50 Million Uninsured Americans May Lose Opportunity For Public Healthcare Option

The debate over a healthcare bill(of which the key component is a public option) has been raging on for the past few months in the United States, becoming more & more political over the last few weeks. With highly publicized, factless outbursts at townhall meetings on one side & the president trying to better explain the plan & encourage bipartisanship on the other, it appears the factless outbursts have taken the upper hand.

President Obama hinted at dropping the public option at a recent town hall meeting, saying that it is only a sliver of the bill. While it may only be a sliver of the actual bill, it is the main component of a plan that is poised to extend an affordable healthcare option to 50 million uninsured Americans, offer an additional, possibly better option to those already insured and drive down current healthcare prices through increased competition.

If the public option was to be let go, a coop would be the new highlight of the healthcare bill, while this may help many people, the limited benefits of a coop program would be a far cry from the huge leap forward in the healthcare industry which would be realized if a public option was passed.