Obama Health Insurance with the Public Insurance Option

What is a public insurance option?

A public insurance option is one that can provide insurance to Americans who lack employment-based coverage. The public plan would be similar to conventional Medicare (the “public Medicare plan,” as distinguished from private plans that contract with Medicare) in that it would be managed by the federal government and pay private providers to deliver care. The public plan would be offered through a new national insurance “exchange,” where it would compete with private insurance plans. The benefit of this type of plan would be that people who lack employment-based coverage would be able to acquire health care, and could not be turned down because of existing or prior medical condition. All could now have health care. With a so called reformed health care framework, direct competition with private insurance plans would drive down costs.
The case can be made that public insurance options must be modeled after medicare if the broad goals of reform, universal insurance and improved value are to be achieved. Medicare has proven superior at cost control not just to health plans in the private sector, but also to plans that contract with the federal government, such as one offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP).People may not realize it, but if you were to stop and think about it, public insurance has pioneered new payment and quality-improvement methods that have frequently set the standard from private plans. Now with the use of new information technology, comparison of large databases and practices and the outcomes of such practices, can now carry out these vital tasks more effectively.
A public plan is essential to set standards for that private plans must compete with. Without this ability, there would be no way to keep down costs and drive insurance practices and value up. People who have good jobs and elect to keep their present insurance would notice a big drop in premiums due to the competition with public insurance plans that would become available under a public insurance option. 
The public plan choice will allow Americans to realize the benefits of both public and private plans: flexibility and security, innovation and stability, and market and democratic accountability. And, according to opinion polling, this is what most Americans want: public and private insurance competing side by side so that they can choose the best option for themselves and their families.