Reply #6: The public option has to be paid for, or it won't work

[TayTay]

And that is where the Congressional problem is.

Sometimes I don't think we can hear each other. The folks outside of DC want one thing and the folks inside DC want another. In this case, the outside force wants the public option, which is fine, but it has to be put on solid financial ground with a definite means of payment. Otherwise, it might fail and it might be several more generations before we get another chance to do this.

I strongly feel that the debate over the public option does not include enough of a debate over how this is going to be paid for. And I think we have to have mandates in order for the public option to even remotely work. And that means that I am advocating forcing people to pay for health insurance or face steep tax penalties. And if we are forcing people to get health insurance, we better make it affordable. And that means we have to have a firm financial footing under this plan, and....

You see what I mean. There are a lot of ways to skin this particular cat. Beachmom has pointed out that several countries that successfully insure their citizens do so with private insurance or with hybrid private/public plans. The goal here is get the American public affordable health insurance that will provide real and meaningful coverage. The goal for some in the liberal blogosphere seems to be a single payer system. I don't think that single payer and universal or near universal coverage are the same thing. I think we should have a public option, but it is going to be a hybrid, I guarantee it.