WEBVTT - How does the public option work?

0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.920
<v Speaker 1>Audible dot com is the leading provider of digital audio

0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.800
<v Speaker 1>books and spoken word, with over one thousand titles to

0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:09.840
<v Speaker 1>choose from. Audible let you listen to your favorite books anywhere, anytime.

0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:13.119
<v Speaker 1>Go to Audible podcast dot com slash stuff brain to

0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:15.400
<v Speaker 1>get a free audio book download of your choice when

0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.920
<v Speaker 1>you sign up today. Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff

0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:29.680
<v Speaker 1>works dot com where smart Happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain

0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:34.360
<v Speaker 1>with today's question. How does the public option work? You

0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.960
<v Speaker 1>know the public option, as in the healthcare reform debate

0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:42.800
<v Speaker 1>public option. For the last year, the government healthcare idea

0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.120
<v Speaker 1>known as the public option has been the focus of

0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:50.760
<v Speaker 1>intense discussion and debate. There's been so much debate, in fact,

0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:54.080
<v Speaker 1>that the future of the whole idea is far from certain.

0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.120
<v Speaker 1>The public option has been inserted into legislation, taken out,

0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.880
<v Speaker 1>put back in, cut again. Currently, the public option is

0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.840
<v Speaker 1>in So let's take a look at the idea and

0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.400
<v Speaker 1>see how it works. The simple summary of the public

0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:12.560
<v Speaker 1>option is this, the government will run a health insurance

0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.560
<v Speaker 1>company and citizens can choose to use it or not.

0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.759
<v Speaker 1>This idea sits in the middle of a spectrum of ideas.

0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:22.640
<v Speaker 1>At one end of the spectrum is a world in

0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:26.360
<v Speaker 1>which private insurance companies provide all health insurance. In the

0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.520
<v Speaker 1>United States, at the other end of the spectrum is

0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:33.000
<v Speaker 1>a single payer system, where the government provides all health

0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.880
<v Speaker 1>care coverage for everyone. In America, the public option is

0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:40.040
<v Speaker 1>more toward the former end than the latter. With the

0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.479
<v Speaker 1>public option, there's simply one more company in the pool

0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:47.880
<v Speaker 1>of companies providing healthcare coverage. That new company happens to

0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.560
<v Speaker 1>be run by the government on behalf of its citizens.

0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.400
<v Speaker 1>It should be noted that most other developed nations have

0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:58.360
<v Speaker 1>trended towards a single payer system. Single payer has the

0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:02.600
<v Speaker 1>potential to dramatically lower healthcare costs for a nation. It

0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.880
<v Speaker 1>also removes healthcare coverage from the backs of businesses, lowering

0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.320
<v Speaker 1>the cost of doing business. In the United States, there's

0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.760
<v Speaker 1>concerned that the single pairer idea doesn't have enough support

0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:17.519
<v Speaker 1>to pass into law. It might also be economically disruptive

0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.160
<v Speaker 1>in the short term, since it would fundamentally change an

0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:24.040
<v Speaker 1>industry that makes up eighteen per cent of the American economy.

0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:28.840
<v Speaker 1>The approach behind the public option is not unusual. For example,

0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:33.000
<v Speaker 1>the government run post office competes with private companies like

0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:37.920
<v Speaker 1>FedEx and UPS to provide letter and package delivery services.

0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.240
<v Speaker 1>At last check, EPs and FedEx were doing fine and

0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.840
<v Speaker 1>competing well against the government run delivery system. In the

0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:48.440
<v Speaker 1>same way, there are many public universities created by states,

0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.720
<v Speaker 1>and they live in harmony with private universities. This despite

0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:56.959
<v Speaker 1>the fact that many public universities have significantly lower tuition

0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:02.200
<v Speaker 1>costs because they receive state subsidies. These two examples demonstrate

0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:06.080
<v Speaker 1>that public and private companies can coexist in a marketplace.

0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:08.800
<v Speaker 1>Why would the government want to set up a health

0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.880
<v Speaker 1>insurance company? The idea is that a government runs system

0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.560
<v Speaker 1>could provide service at a lower cost. This is important

0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.280
<v Speaker 1>because healthcare costs are rising fast and they could eventually

0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:24.639
<v Speaker 1>cause serious problems for the economy. One prediction shows costs

0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:29.120
<v Speaker 1>nearly doubling by and consuming thirty four percent of the

0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.919
<v Speaker 1>nation's GDP. The public option would create competition that could,

0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:38.400
<v Speaker 1>in theory, compel private insurance companies to lower prices and

0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.320
<v Speaker 1>cover more people. How might the government run health insurance

0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.680
<v Speaker 1>company lower costs? First, it would eliminate the need to

0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.400
<v Speaker 1>create profit and dividends for shareholders. Second, it would be

0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:53.360
<v Speaker 1>able to do away with multimillion dollar executive salaries. Third,

0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.400
<v Speaker 1>it could probably lower other administrative costs, and it would,

0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.520
<v Speaker 1>through its size, probably negotiate better eates on drugs and services.

0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:04.960
<v Speaker 1>But where would the money for the public option come

0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.240
<v Speaker 1>from the stated goal of the public option is to

0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.560
<v Speaker 1>create a system that covers its own costs and is

0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:16.000
<v Speaker 1>self sustaining. People choosing the public option would pay premiums

0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.359
<v Speaker 1>like they do to a private insurance company. People unable

0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.119
<v Speaker 1>to afford insurance would receive subsidies from the government which

0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.960
<v Speaker 1>they could use to buy either public or private insurance.

0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:31.760
<v Speaker 1>Opposition to the public option idea comes on several fronts.

0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:36.200
<v Speaker 1>Existing private insurance companies express concern that the public option

0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.200
<v Speaker 1>will put them out of business, but is mentioned above,

0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:43.600
<v Speaker 1>this seems unlikely. Pharmaceutical companies are concerned about the bargaining

0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.840
<v Speaker 1>power of the public option. Some view the public option

0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.680
<v Speaker 1>is a first step towards a single payer system. It

0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.840
<v Speaker 1>will be interesting to see if these opposing forces can

0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:57.520
<v Speaker 1>eliminate the public option or if it survives. For more

0:04:57.560 --> 0:04:59.920
<v Speaker 1>on this and thousands of other topics. Because it has

0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:06.839
<v Speaker 1>sttworks dot com, Audible dot com is the leading provider

0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.719
<v Speaker 1>of digital audio books and spoken word with over one

0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.520
<v Speaker 1>thousand titles to choose from. Audible lets you listen to

0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:16.479
<v Speaker 1>your favorite books anywhere, anytime. Go to audible podcast dot

0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.080
<v Speaker 1>com slash stuff Brain to get a free audio book

0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.120
<v Speaker 1>download of your choice when you sign up today