LETTER: Nevada’s new “public” option isn’t really a public option
I suspect secretly that many Republicans and some Democrats will be happy with the new “public option” program that the Legislature just passed, as it is only partially “public.” A real public option, whereby the government actually runs it, would likely have kept costs lower (think: Medicare).
In Canada, each province runs its own health system with no premiums. But this Nevada program is still a system where for-profit private companies will make money, albeit less than in a completely private system. A real public option program could have been a check on the private system. But this new program continues to keep the foxes guarding the hen house.