Gibson: We didn’t get to the “public option” in the previous segment, so we’ll do that now. There are questions about whether or not a government run insurance plan is necessary. Republican critics say that current public programs SS, Medicare/Medicaid are already over-extended so we don’t need another government run program, especially in this economy. What do you say to them?
Obama: They’re e wrong. What we want to set up is an insurance market place where Americans will be able to compare plans, check out deductibles, etc. to see what’s best for them. (Including the same options that Congress gets.) One option will be government insurer that isn’t profit driven to keep costs low. The argument to that is that it will run other insurers out of business and that the free market can do it better; government can’t run anything. If that’s the case, nobody’s going to choose the public option. Opposition to the public option is not practical; it’s ideological.
Sawyer to Aetna: Insurance premiums continue to rise, healthcare costs continue to rise, insurance company profits are soaring, is the president right that you need to be kept honest in keeping costs low?
Head of Aetna: Let’s make sure we’re solving the right problem. We’re committed to helping the president. It’s difficult to compete against the person who’s refereeing the game. So let’s identify the problem we’re trying to solve.
Obama: Whatever rules the government imposes on insurers, it would have to abide by under the public option. So we’re not talking about an uneven playing field. An incentive for private insurers to get involved is the pool of new customers (underinsured, uninsured).
I went to the ABC news site to read the article about this show and the comments are pretty blasting him.