The public option in the proposed overhaul of the nation's health care system was considered a poison pill that would kill serious reform. Now a hybrid proposal has surfaced that merits attention.
There's good reason to support it -- no significant reform can be accomplished without some version of a public option.
The measure that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders unveiled last week will not please the most ardent advocates of a ``Medicare for all'' single-payer system. It offers a milder version that would let states opt out. Instead of linking payment rates to those set by Medicare, it would negotiate those rates with health providers and pharmaceutical companies.
That would still offer consumers a far better deal than what the system offers today.
48 million uninsured
Private insurers don't make a profit by insuring people likely to need coverage -- it makes no business sense -- so another path for coverage must be provided for those who are most in need. That's why a public option is needed.
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