Need a Clear and Simple Explanation of Why the Public Health Insurance Plan is Necessary?

Ok, let’s be honest. Not everyone outside the wonk rooms of health policy understands exactly what the public health insurance plan option is and why we need it. That is why it is so easy for insurance company apologists to scare people with the threat of ‘government-run health care.’

President Obama provided a useful analogy for the public plan to help allay the fear that it will lead private insurance companies to go out of business during his address [1] to Congress:

“I have insisted that like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects. But by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits, excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers. It would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities.”

Now Brave New Films offers a two-minute video of former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explaining [2] what a public option for healthcare coverage really means for working people. Watch, learn, enjoy — and send it to anyone you think could benefit from its clear explanation of this controversial topic.