Profit is the centerpiece of capitalism, and competition. Profit motivates innovation. Make a better product, sell more products, make more money.
Health insurers, however, don’t make anything. They just provide a place to pool the money they’re paid in the form of premiums so when those insured need money to cover health-care expenses they can draw off enough to cover those expenses. Problem is, insurers don’t want to do this for nothing. Besides covering their overhead, they want to make some money in the process — the more the better. And, in order to increase their profits, they often find excuses not to pay some of those claims. Just as bad, they tend to be selective about who they cover in the first place. People with health problems — IE. those likely to need some of that pooled money — need not apply.
You can’t compare health care to a car. People who can’t afford a Cadillac will make do with something of lower value. They can live without a Cadillac. They can’t live without health care. You can aspire to owning a Cadillac if you want to, but you shouldn’t have to aspire to having health care. I will not argue that everyone has the right to own a luxury car, but I will argue that everyone has a right to health care. Car buyers have choices: if you can’t afford a new Caddy, you almost surely can afford a used Chevy.
Pooling money is the whole idea behind insurance. It’s a community’s way to spread the pain, and spread some comfort. Insofar as health insurance is concerned, people should have the means and the right to pool their money to cover the predictable and unforeseen expenses associated with health care — without having some of that money cleaved off as profit for someone who really doesn’t do much.
This describes the public option. It’s a way for people to pool their money and have it used most efficiently, with all except what’s needed to cover administrative costs going to cover what it’s designed for. Is it socialism? Maybe… but it has nothing to do with Cadillac. For those worried about the collapse of capitalism, let’s separate providing health care from building cars. There will still be plenty of capitalism in this country, and creating a public health insurance system will do nothing to endanger that economic system.
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