A public option healthcare plan will not work. The law of supply and demand will rule, and government cannot change that.

To lower costs, increase the supply. Imposing artificially lower priced insurance systems supported by tax subsidies will cause massive migration from the private sector to the public one, causing the private sector to raise their prices, ultimately failing. The rush to the public option will increase required subsidies, hence higher taxes. Even now, payments to providers from state and federal programs are well behind due to funding shortages. Private systems will cease to exist and public funding will have to triple or more. Meanwhile, more people rushing to healthcare providers will overload an already under-staffed system.

If the government imposes ceilings on provider incomes, fewer people will enter that profession, creating a larger shortage, de facto rationing and higher mortality. Look at the disaster in Canadian healthcare. I’ve heard Congressmen talking about how it takes 17 weeks for blood tests!

If you want lower health care costs, increase the number of providers, place caps on tort cases and insurance and put tax controls on administrator compensations. The administrative support system for health care is already bloated by demands from government regulations and burdens of out of control tort settlements.

Let doctors and nurses do their jobs, and compensate them enough to spawn more interest in the health care profession. Co-operatives may be a reasonable supply and competition solution, but keep the government out of private lives and choices!

Elbert Derick, Wales