Health Care — Public Option Single Payer Threat Endures

A lot of the Democratic presidential candidates are rushing as far to the left on health care as they can. But some in the “center lane” are advocating what they claim is a more moderate approach: finishing what President Obama started and creating a “public option,” meaning an insurance policy provided by the government that purportedly “competes” with private plans. Obama and some of his allies pushed hard to include this in the original Obamacare law, but they got only 58 of the 60 votes they needed in the Senate.

The next time they have a Senate majority, the Democrats will likely try to pass it through a process that requires just 51 votes. This is a lot less alienating to moderate Democrats than Medicare for All ever will be. So even if one of the lefty candidates becomes our next president and enjoys a sympathetic Congress, the public option might prove to be the most politically plausible big-ticket reform.

About the Author

Robert VerBruggen

Robert VerBruggen is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

A lot of the Democratic presidential candidates are rushing as far to the left on health care as they can. But some in the “center lane” are advocating what they claim is a more moderate approach: finishing what President Obama started and creating a “public option,” meaning an insurance policy provided by the government that purportedly “competes” with private plans. Obama and some of his allies pushed hard to include this in the original Obamacare law, but they got only 58 of the 60 votes they needed in the Senate.

The next time they have a Senate majority, the Democrats will likely try to pass it through a process that requires just 51 votes. This is a lot less alienating to moderate Democrats than Medicare for All ever will be. So even if one of the lefty candidates becomes our next president and enjoys a sympathetic Congress, the public option might prove to be the most politically plausible big-ticket reform.