http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Excellent article by Ezra Klein makes the statement that the Public Option, an option for a state run health insurance to compete with private insurers in the upcoming health insurance exchanges, is not as dead as thought. After having been removed from the Federal area, it has shown up again in the plans of several states in how they set up their heath insurance exchanges. This is welcome news to those, like me, who liked the idea of a public option to provide fair competition to the private insurers and keep the profit motive in check. Even if the private insurers found a loophole that allowed them to charge sky high fees or offer skimpy services, a public option would force them to continue offering a fair package least they lose too many people to the public option. I am very interested in seeing how this goes forward. Especially in my own area of Northern CA, where a county run non profit Alameda Alliance for Health will be providing a health plan in California's exchange alongside the commercial insurers like Blue Cross.
In 2014, under the federal health overhaul law, millions of Americans will be able to buy coverage through state-based insurance exchanges. In California, government-run public plans, like the Alameda Alliance for Health, will go head-to-head with private insurance companies to compete for all those new customers, and those who run the county plans believe they can offer a robust network of doctors and hospitals to bargain shoppers looking for low-cost coverage.
“I think when some people get to make a choice,” says [Alameda Alliance for Health CEO Ingrid] Lamirault, “having local offices they can walk into and get help with things and get their questions answered, and when they call customer service they get their calls answered in under two minutes. Those kinds of things are important to them.”