Are you slow?
No one is running it. We pay the government through taxes and the government pays the insurance. Again, I know the talking points tell you differently, but we're not talking about government-run hospitals or pharmacies. We're not even talking about turning the U.S. government into an insurance company. The U.S. government would be a consumer in the insurance market just like your employer is.
Think of it this way, guy...The United States government already buys insurance for its employees. Your Senator, your Representative, they take that insurance. The public option is basically U.S. citizens being able to buy into a similar pool insurance that the U.S. government already provides for its employees.
As for cost controls, a big reason why costs are so out of control in this country is because the consumer, who is represented by their insurer in the market, has acquiesced to ridiculous market demands. Have you ever wondered why drugs sell for less in Canada than they do here? It's a country with fewer people and less affluent people, and yet many prescriptions are twice as cheap there are they are here. The reason? With national health care, drug companies have to deal with a consumer that is clear in what it will and won't pay. In this country, drug and medical companies set a price, and insurers agree to pay those prices...but they're getting over because they're making their money back from their clients buying insurance. So there's no real incentive for insurance companies to say to drug makers and hospitals, "Sorry, we're not paying that."
And here's the best part of the whole "the public option doesn't control costs" argument — health care costs are a greater portion of GDP of this country than any other country in the world....WITH NO NATIONAL HEALTH CARE INSURANCE SYSTEM.
Germany, the birthplace of a national insurance system when, in the 19th century, Otto Von Bismark instituted essentially the same system still in place in the country, has pretty high health care costs, but it's still a much lower portion of Germany's GDP than it is in this country. And German health care is ranked among some of the best in the world. There's choice in Germany...citizens can choose from a number of insurance plans, called "sickness funds," that cover both the employed and unemployed through a payroll tax...no other out-of-pocket costs.
As for the whole "sacrificing 190 million for 30 million" thing, again, I don't think you read well. Health care reform, at its heart is about underinsured people and not necessarily about the uninsured. Having a huge pool of people entering the marketplace will infuse it with competition, which will benefit the 190 million who already have insurance. Also, by mandating a baseline of coverage for all insurers, whether it's the insurer for the public option or your insurer through your employer, you can encourage preventative care (through, say, requiring insurance companies cover wellness visits or making the bite of a sky-high deductibles a non-factor in a doctor's visit for the sniffles).
There's no sacrifice. The reforms will benefit the insured and uninsured alike. Please present evidence from the bill to the contrary.
No one is running it? Now there is a statement I can believe!!!
GO VIKINGS!!!
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