Jun 24, 2009, Vol: 16, No: 29
The U.S. Senate’s Affordable Health Choices Act could help people with incomes between $15,000 and $50,000 buy insurance through state exchanges and open up Medicaid to more of the poor. The legislation, however, lacks what more than 30 state legislators are calling for: a so-called “public option,” or federal health insurance plan, that they argue would give the private plans a run for their money.
On Wed., June 17, House Speaker Frank Chopp and dozens of other Washington legislators joined 700 lawmakers urging Congress to put a public plan on the table. Last week, Health Care for America Now started running $1.25 million in TV commercials in Washington and 11 other states to get constituents to call key lawmakers and demand a public option.
Many conservatives have demonized the idea — a government health plan that would coexist with private plans — as a foot in the door to socialized medicine. But “it’s a fact that in our state, several counties now only have one health insurance plan [available],” says State Sen. Karen Keiser, D - Kent. “That’s a monopoly and a monopoly isn’t a good thing.”
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