Opinion: Public Option Would Shift Costs to Private Insurers
In an opinion piece, Sam Smith, vice president of public affairs for the California Association of Health Underwriters, argues that a government-run insurance plan "would simply shift health care costs to private payers -- and undermine and erode the private insurance system." He concludes, "America's existing public options prove that another government-run health plan will only raise the cost of private insurance and crowd out private alternatives -- until the public option is the only game in town."
- "The Orange Grove: Private Insurers Face Stacked Deck" (Smith, Orange County Register, 6/2).