Can the private sector compete with a public option?

Question

people are saying the private sector cannot compete with the public option in health care.

what about the US Postal Service?

FedEx and UPS as well as other mail corporations compete fine with the U.S. goverment on that base.

is that a fair assesment?

Answer 1

we'll find out. I find it hilarious that this argument presumes the gov. will be able to provide health care at a lower cost - and we wouldn't want that now would we?



I think the competition argument is insurance industry led hysteria. The gov. and private insurance would still be negotiating rates with providers and pharmaceuticals so it comes down to bargaining power and negotiating prowess.



EDIT: providers already limit/ration based upon pricing when they refuse to accept a certain type of insurance or only take a certain number of patients with that type of insurance.

Answer 2

How about the Private plans that are thriving in places like Australia where there is a mandatory public option! Private Insurance is doing very well there.



How about France, Japan, England, Belgium, Slovenia, Italy, South Korea, New Zealand, Ukraine, Sweeden, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, and coutnless other countries where there is a public option and private insurance still thrives?



Why would America be the only country where private insurance would disappear? Easy, it wont. Private insurance will never go away, even if everyone went on a public option. This is because there will always be people who are willing to pay more for better health care.



Furthermore, how can we be so sure that PRIVATE health care is better than public health care. When we privatized the energy industry, the system went to crap. How is that private energy company out in California working out?



The private sector has done SO poorly in fact that many of them receive hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate welfare subsidies just to stay in business? How is the private sector so great if they need so much subsidies.

Answer 3

The GOP are not the only ones who are concerned about this. A lot of independents are concerned too. There is a better way to deal with this problem than to offer government insurance. The government could pay all or part of the premiums for low income persons to get private insurance. I believe the reason this idea is not being considered is because it will not give the government the kind of control over people that the public option would. Democrats and Obama want the power that comes with that kind of control.

Answer 4

No and I'll use a baseball analogy to explain why. If there is a public option the government is both the opposing team and the umpire so naturally the playing field will be tilted in the governments favor. Others will cite UPS and Fed Ex as examples to the contrary, but what can you send by either of these companies for $0.43? Can you imagine the cost if you sent all of your mail by UPS or Fed Ex? The Post Office is badly mismanaged, but it's still a bargain compared to the others. Congress is badly overstepping its Constitutional authority on this health care issue. The free market has never really been allowed to work in the area of health insurance because you cannot buy it from an out-of-state provider.

Answer 5

There is a big difference in the comparison you are trying to make. The United States government does not tell UPS and FexEd what they can charge, how much they can earn or whose packages they can deliver. The same is not true regarding the private and public options in health care. The government does intend to set pricing and compensation restrictions. Meanwhile in order to remain solvent insurance companies will still need to be able to turn a profit while the government will fund it's under cut cost structure through taxation without regard to profitability of the system. Any private insurer which does not comply will not be allowed to write new policies. thereby further degrading their customer base. If you cannot see how this constitutes an unfair competition advantage then I cannot explain it to you.

Answer 6

The Post Office is being subsidized by the government.... Fedex UPS use the Postal Service to deliver some of their packages. People are just worried their stock options will go down.... My reccomendation to them reinvest!!! Enough people are dying everyday due to the profiteering for health insurance...If there are doctors standing up saying this is a better option who are you gonna trust doctors or CEO's and stock holders?

Answer 7

No, private insurers can't compete with a public option because the American people can't afford it. Here's why:



One of government's means of controlling cost is to reimburse providers at low rates... sometimes less than it costs them in overhead to provide them. As a result, practitioners limit the number of patients on government funded plans (Medicaid/Medicare) they accept and rely on private payers (cash paying patients & private insurance) to make up the difference by paying full cost + modest profit. Private HMO plans operate similarly to the government funded plans. That's why providers also limit the number of HMO plans they accept, and some won't accept them at all. Anyhow... when a public option is created that extends coverage to even more people, providers will be pretty much left with no choice but to accept more patients on government funded or approved plans. When they do that, their losses will be increased. Eventually the squeeze will be placed on the private payers again. At some point, the squeeze will become so high as to make private health coverage cost prohibitive for most Americans. In the end, the wealthy will have private coverage and the rest of us will have shitty HMO plans.



The FedEx/UPS vs. USPS situation in no way compares to the health care industry.

Answer 8

Yes - they will have to be more competitive and actually earn an honest living for a change ; but Yes there is No reason why they can not rise up successfully to the challenge .

Answer 9

Personally, I think the public option is the ONLY way to go. Otherwise, there is no incentive for private insurance companies to make any changes that are killing Americans.

Answer 10

Or private schools vs public schools, blackwater vs the public military, private security forces vs public police personell.

Answer 11

Not exactly a fair comparison.



The internet and the record industry is more fair. Why pay for something if you can get it in another way for free?

Answer 12

Its never gonna pass- Dems are short 100 votes and Pelosi is still in denile. There is too many dems that still work for the people and not for Pelosi or Harry Reid.

Answer 13

It's against the law for anyone but the USPS to deliver first and third class mail.

Answer 14

Yes. Medicare is a good example.

Answer 15

according to all the Cons on here who don't want any change, it shouldn't be a problem....