by Cleo Brown

When my publisher asked me to write an article for HHR on The Public Option, it was with the understanding that the article would be supportive of The Public Option since I, as a moderate Republican, support Universal Healthcare. After finding out, however, what the Public Option is, I cannot say that I do support it since, if my idea of Universal Healthcare were to be implemented there would be no need for Health Insurance at all.

Is the Public Option the same as Universal Healthcare? No, the Public Option and Universal Healthcare are two sides of the same coin, but are not the same thing. While the Public Option is health insurance which one would pay for, Universal Healthcare is provided for citizens free of charge and meets all of the health care needs of citizens without the citizen needing to pay for a health insurance premium.

The Public Option is Government sponsored Health Insurance which citizens of The United States would be able to purchase for a reasonable price. The public option, because it would provide consumers with choice, would drive the cost of insurance from private providers down so that they can compete with The United States’ Government on the open market. I see the deflation of the cost of Health Insurance as a good thing and as according to the laws of supply and demand.

Without Universal healthcare, for instance, competition for health insurance among Americans has been so intense that private insurers have been able to charge expensive premiums which many poor citizens cannot pay. The United States’ Government, on the other hand, is willing to offer citizens an alternative which would be much cheaper making Healthcare more affordable for all citizens of The United States.

Ideally, however, if The United States’ Government were to adopt a Universal Healthcare Policy in which all of our citizens healthcare needs were automatically met by a caring Government, then there would be no need for health insurance and its premiums. In an ideal United States, in which the healthcare needs of the people are being met, if I, or my publisher, or a member of my family or a member of your family became ill, all we would need to do would be to show up at a clinic or at a hospital emergency room for treatment.

Since this is the premise of Government provided Universal Healthcare, why do we need a Public Option or Government sponsored Health Insurance

About The Author: Cleo E. Brown has a Master’s Degree in Contemporary African-American History from The University of California at Davis in Davis, California. She also has a B.A. Minor Degree in Political-Science and has completed course work towards a Ph.D. in Education from The University of San Francisco in San Francisco, California. She is a Free Lance Writer and a Senior Editor at HHR.