With Obama still set on finding bi-partisan support for health reform, and with the debate now sticking on public option or not, it occurred to me that one of the problems we have in proposing the public option is that many on the right are concerned about a "government take-over" of a large sector of the economy. Face it, there are many conservatives out there (you are probably related to one or two) who simply have no confidence in the government running things.
So, I was thinking, what if we could find a market based solution for operating the public option short of a "government take-over". If it operates like any other thing the government does it would undoubtedly create a huge new bureaucracy, require more forms to fill out, have poor customer service and be chronically underfunded. Then it hit me: Canada.
My proposal is that rather than creating a new "public option" from scratch or investing in the creation of dubious "co-ops" that would quickly be out-maneuvered by the private sector, why not just outsource the public option to someone who already knows how to run public health: Canada.
Put the public option component out to contract to the Canadian government, which already has the expertise and infrastructure to operate such a system.
Put it out to bid and let the Canadians run it. They would have to hire at least some Americans to provide services at the local level, but the US Government will simply have to cut a check to Canada every year for their services. Its public option and free market all at the same time. Especially if you open it up to competitive bid from France, Germany and New Zealand.
The Canadians would, of course, not be collapsing their system into our own, that's like asking Cold Stone to mix in sewage in your French Vanilla, but as an independent contract the Canadians stand to make a buck on their snow-deprived neighbors to the south and we have the benefit of uber-polite medical service providers, an efficient system up and running from day one, and no more of this nonsense about a government take-over. How's that for shaking up the debate?
I humbly submit to your congratulations and poniards.