As President Barack Obama prepares for a Wednesday night speech to Congress in a risky bid to salvage his top domestic priority, no other issue is so highly charged. Obama's liberal supporters consider the proposal for a public plan to compete with private insurers do-or-die. Republicans say it's unacceptable. It's doubtful the public plan can pass the Senate.

Insurers say they could never compete against the price-setting power of government.

forced to compete

[Meanwhile,] Employer groups warn it would undermine the system of job-based coverage.

A public option — or government plan — has come to mean different things to different people. Some say it could be a public trust and independent of the government: nonprofit co-ops could serve as a check on insurance companies. In its original form, supporters envisioned a Medicare-like plan in which the government pays the bills. But it would be financed through premiums paid by beneficiaries, not taxpayer dollars.

ECONOMIES OF SCALE.



And they're squeezing real hard to make sure a public health insurance option never sees the light of day in America..."Doubtful" in this context means "No Way In Hell."And if it doesn't pass the Senate, then it's dead in the water.And why is there no way in hell the Senate would pass a bill that includes a public insurance option???That's a no brainer.And of course if insurers arethen they'll be forced to cut their profits, which they're not willing to do.Of course, employer groups, who benefit greatly from being able to use "health insurance benefits" to keep their employees shackled to their desks don't want to see a public insurance option that would give their employees a way out of the nightmare known as corporate America and increase their bargaining power. Many Americans would quit their corporate job today if it weren't for the prohibitive cost of buying health insurance independently.The fact is, insurers and employers know that the average American has neither the knowledge nor the time to examine the details of a public option and its feasibility. Therefore, they prevent any meaningful discussion about it by throwing around words like 'socialist' 'communist' and 'nazi' and warning against the astronomical cost to tax payers.But it's all BULLSHIT and they know it.Americans don't have for-profit fire departments, police departments, or a for-profit judiciary.Why in the hell should we have for-profit health insurance???The truth is a government plan would work brilliantly because of a little understood phenonomon calledMost people would opt for the public option because it will be more affordable than the private option since there is NO PROFIT involved.More people means the risk of illness can be spread over a wider population, thereby decreasing premiums even further or resulting in windfall annual surpluses that would be otherwise pocketed as profits by blood sucking insurers.Indeed, most people are healthy anyway. therefore, the windfall savings made annually any given year by a government plan could serve as a surplus that could not only finance innovation in medicine and healthcare, but could also be used to subsidize medical education, increasing the number of doctors and availabilty of affordable health care...holy cow - a true revolution in health care in this country.But as usual, the greedy corporate vampires in the insurance and banking industry are trying their darnedest to keep Americans ignorant of these plain and simple truths.They're not interested in "free market competition" for the benefit of the people.Insurers are determined to minimize competition to ensure that they, and only they, can continue to keep American balls in a vice...squeezing and squeezing until they've squeezed every drop of life out of us and our children.It's time Americans realized that our troops should be brought back from Iraq and Afghanistan and stationed in front of the headquarters of corporate America - banks and insurers in particular.Wakeup America - they're robbing us blind while we fight each other in the process.See also Labor Chief Slams Insurance Companies as "Death Panels"