Who's afraid of the public option?

This article is from June, but I think worth posting:

Who's afraid of the public option?
Health care debate is stuck on a straw man

The official new sticking point in the fight over health care reform is the "public option," a taxpayer-sponsored medical insurance plan that Democrats want to offer as an option alongside a menu of private insurance plans. Republicans have turned this into the wedge of the moment - pillorying it as big government sticking its smelly foot in the hospital door, on the way to sitting its whole morbidly obese body in the waiting room, never to be removed.

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But we do know that in many other sectors of the economy, government and private offerings happily compete and coexist. Well-established government options are available as backstops for millions of Americans, especially those without the money to afford any alternative - without denying customers who want to pay more for different or better services the right to buy what they want.

There's the government option in schooling. All across America, local and state governments, with increasing involvement by the feds (thanks to George W. Bush and No Child Left Behind), educate young people. All told, it costs us about $1 trillion a year. That hasn't kept 10% of students from enrolling in private schools and growing numbers from being home-schooled. Is government doing a particularly good job with its dominant market share? No - but the point here is that America is pretty comfortable with the powerful, effectively mandated, public sector role.

There's the government option in security. This one, like education, is in many respects a government-imposed monopoly...http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html">more

There's the government option in shipping, the post office. The USPS is a quasi-governmental agency with special privileges. But that hasn't stopped FedEx and UPS from peeling away customers...http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html">more

There's the government option in scientific research. Government agencies dole out most of the money seeding experiments in fields from basic physics and chemistry to energy and astronomy to biology...http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html?page=1">more

There's the government option in travel. Amtrak has been propped up by the government for years; it competes with private sector planes and buses...http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html?page=1">more

There's the government option in recreation. The federal government is the nation's largest land owner. National parks compete for tourism business...http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html?page=1">more

There's the government option in book lending. For years, libraries have coexisted alongside brick-and-mortar and online bookstores. They offer services to those who can't or don't want to pay more...http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html?page=1">more

There's the government option in retirement. We call it Social Security. To many elderly Americans, it's the only thing standing between them and poverty. None of this stifles private retirement plan innovation...http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html?page=1">more

And, like it or not, there's already a sizeable government option at work in health care. Medicare, Medicaid and the Veterans Administration...http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/06/19/2009-06-19_whos_afraid_of_a_public_option_health_care_debate_is_stuck_on_a_strawman.html?page=1">more

senior citizens on the right to read this. I think it would probably make a lot sense to them and allay a lot of their fears.

If a public option can't survive on premiums alone, then it isn't really competing against private insurance at all.