Is a Public Option Essential?

Let's see; the government has run Social Security so well that I'll likely never be able to collect on that 13% I've been paying in all these years. Even if I do get something, the figure will be so low that I'm going to have to work until they throw dirt in my face.

Medicare and Medicaid which I have also been contributing to these many years is headed for financial failure-soon.

The politicians assured me that Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac were in great shape; no need to be concerned.

So on what past demonstration of competence in any other public program foisted upon us am I to base my faith that the outcome of a public health insurance option will be any more cost effective or of better quality? If the definition of insanity is to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result, then anyone endorsing the public option is either insane, has selective amnesia, or ulterior motives. I suspect the latter.

Since the federal government is required by the Constitution to regulate interstate commerce, what they should be doing is removing the barriers erected by the states as to what kind of insurance can be sold in a particular state. Health insurance should be like car or life insurance; individually available, portable, and written to your specifications. Competition will make it affordable.