The U.S. Senate will begin a full chamber debate on health care reform this week.
The Senate finance committee, the final committee to address the legislation before the full chamber debate, last week voted down two public option plans. It will vote on the final draft of the bill this week.
The public option, proposed by President Barack Obama, is a government-run insurance plan intended to provide coverage for those not already covered by private insurers
It would be a part of the health care marketplace like any private insurance plan. Those who want to switch from private insurers to the public plan would pay a premium fee.
Many Republicans argued against the public option because they said it would put private health insurance companies out of business, leaving the government to pay for every citizen’s health care.
Jason Roberts, a political science professor at UNC, said that the people who are against the public option are those who do not trust the government to run things very well.
Roberts said having a public option was not a realistic option due to the opposition based on party lines.
“It’s never been clear that this was the back bone of what Obama wanted,” Roberts said on the push for a public option plan in Health Care Reform.
"It will surprise me if we don’t get a health care reform plan and it will surprise me if there ends up being a public option in that bill,” he said.
What you're saying:
"The public option would solve problems in the inequity that we see in the current health system." - Andrew Lee, junior, biology, Charlotte
"I would say with any policy, you need to experiment with it first before you implement it nationwide." - Matt Neimkin, junior, international studies, Asheville
"If you compare things like the postal service, which is government run, it is still able to complete with Fedex without running it out of business. … I think there needs to be an option for those who can't afford health insurance." - Simon Yun, senior, political science, Durham
"I feel like there are a lot of opportunities for the proposed programs to be misused." - Caroline Kirby, sophomore, comparative literature, Raleigh
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