Why We Don't Need a Public Option

It has been a crazy summer. And not just because of the unseasonably cool weather. Politically, this summer has been crazy. You know what I’m talking about, the health care debate. We’ve heard about death panels and that government provided health-care won’t cost a dime, both of which have been debunked. Let’s move past the shouting, and the finger-biting. I’d like to offer my argument as to why a public option is not appropriate to fix the problem of health care.

First, what is the problem with health care? A lot. Rising premiums, uncovered costs that lead to bankruptcy, skyrocketing costs that have little correlation to health outcomes, lack of portability and, most importantly, health care in our country has inherent bars to allow the free market to work properly.

Why doesn’t the free market work in our current system? First, the consumer chooses not to set a fair price, because any price will be paid to keep a loved one alive. Also, consumers fail to ask what the price is because they are not the ones paying it, someone else is. It's something called the tragedy of the commons… I don’t care what it costs because I don’t directly feel the pain. People only care when the premiums go up. Third, the consumer cannot set a fair price because even if they want to find out the price before incurring it, many hospitals refuse or are unable to provide it, leaving responsible consumers in the dark. Fourth, patients, by their very virtue, have trouble second guessing their doctor as to whether they need something. So patients agree to anything they think will help, cringing, hoping that it won’t ding them too hard either in co-pays or higher premiums or actual costs. Blind consumers do not a free market make.

Addressing the free market issue in health care is central to solving the other problems. Health care reform that gives consumers choice and reform that makes the health care costs transparent will drive down costs. The solution offered by Democrats includes a public option, a government administered health insurance program. A public option is unnecessary to address the most important issue: the free market problem. Here’s the surprising truth about health care, the countries that are able to provide insurance for anyone who wants it, drive down costs, and improve health outcomes don’t have a public option. France and Germany, countries whose major parties are unabashedly socialist, don’t have a public option. The country with some of the best health outcomes and some of the lowest prices in the world, Japan, doesn’t have a public option.

In the meantime, American taxpayers are being told, by some in Congress, that a public option is essential to health care reform. What we’re not being told is how a public option can be sustained when our government is already running high deficits. Some entitlement programs have an expiration date. No one thinks that social security will be around in twenty years. What will the expiration date be on affordable health care under the public option plan?
We need health care reform, but we need sustainable reform that provides affordable medical care for, not only us, but our children and grandchildren. Other countries solve the problem without a public option. Even, gasp, socialist ones. If other countries can provide a high quality of health care to all of their citizens solely through the private sector, then I dare our government to do the same. In light of our increasing debt and the volatility of the government’s support of entitlement programs, we may not have an option.