Democrats' Obamacare Solution: More Obamacare

• Democrats say Obamacare’s failures can be solved with a “public option” – government-run health care.
• When writing Obamacare, Democrats decided that a public option was too extreme.
• Democrats’ push for a Washington-run health care plan would do even more harm to Americans’ health care than Obamacare already has.

Americans are nervous about their health insurance coverage for next year. Obamacare premiums will be higher than ever before, and families will face larger deductibles. Most Americans won’t have much of a choice – the majority of the country will have only one or two options for Obamacare plans in 2017. Democrats refuse to admit that the law is not working. Now they are proposing that America add to the failed policies of top-down, government-run health insurance through a “public option.” 

“Public Option” = Washington Plan

A public option is a government-run insurance plan that shifts even more costs to taxpayers. A majority of Democrats recently introduced a resolution pledging to build on the Affordable Care Act’s “success” with a public option that would “[drive] competition and [hold] insurance companies accountable.” 

Democrats’ characterization of the premium-increasing, choice-eliminating law as a “success” is absurd. They also mischaracterize the “public option.” The public option would not “drive competition,” it would eliminate competition. It would not “hold insurance companies accountable,” it would crowd them out of business.

The Washington plan would quickly become the only option. Without competition, it would have no incentive to offer high-quality care and service, to innovate, or to keep costs down. Washington can always raise taxes on hard-working Americans.

Democrats Tried a Public Option – it Failed

In 2009 when congressional Democrats were creating Obamacare, their most liberal members argued it would keep costs down because it would not have to generate profits, answer to shareholders, or sustain marketing expenses. Even moderate Democrats rejected the idea as too extreme; they proposed a co-op program instead.

“We’re going to have some type of public option, call it ‘co-op,’ call it what you want.” – Democrat Leader Harry Reid, 07-09-2009

Today, the moderate voices in the Democrat congressional caucus have been replaced with more extreme liberals. The excesses of Obamacare are no longer sufficient as Democrats push for more Washington control of Americans’ health insurance and health care.   

Democrats never contemplated that the co-ops’ business plan might be unsustainable. Since they were created, 17 of Obamacare’s 23 co-ops have failed, leaving nearly a million people without insurance and wasting $2 billion in taxpayer dollars. Two separate co-ops have failed in Oregon, the home state of the main Democrat sponsor of this month’s resolution. Most of the remaining co-ops are facing significant financial difficulties. If the six remaining co-ops fail, another 240,000 people will be left without insurance.

Americans want solutions that center on freedom, flexibility, and choice. Democrats’ goal of a single health insurance option – run by Washington and inevitably paid for by higher taxes on American families – would do even more harm than Obamacare has done so far.

“Obamacare is scary enough for America’s middle class. The last thing Americans need now is some government-run sequel.” – Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 09-21-2016

Democrats should open their eyes to the failures of Obamacare and the chaos a government-run plan would cause, and stop jeopardizing American families’ health care.