Oh well, there goes another talking point.
The report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the public option proposed by Democrats would not drive private insurers out of business and most people would still choose to get their medical coverage through employers.
The CBO Report also calls into question the Lewin Group’s analysis:
The CBO report estimated only about 10 million to 11 million people would sign up for the public option by 2019, far fewer than the 103 million cited in another analysis by the Lewin Group. The Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group.
The CBO report also estimated the Democratic proposal would boost enrollment in employer-based plans by about 12 million people because of the mandate for individuals to be insured.
Republicans often cite Lewin Group analysis to make their point that millions of people would lose their current health coverage if the proposed overhaul became law. But the CBO disputed the group’s conclusions.
“We anticipate that our estimate of the number of enrollees in the public plan would be substantially smaller than the Lewin Group’s, even if we assumed that all employers would have that option,” CBO said.
11 million vs 103 million? Pretty big difference.
Here’s the thing that drives me crazy about private health insurers: They have made no attempt to make their industry competitive. They have done nothing to show that they acknowledge there’s a problem, and they sure as hell have shown no interest in fixing any part of health care. Their arrogance is quite breathtaking. Imagine if Maytag, Kenmore, etc. ran their companies like this. They’d be out of business. And the only reason private health insurers aren’t out of business is because they’re really a monopoly.