Essentials of Health Policy and Law 2nd Edition by Joel Teitelbaum,Sara Wilensky

Exercise 2

There was a lengthy debate about whether to include a public option in health reform. A public option is some type of government-run health plan that would be available to compete with private plans. A public option could exist within the health exchange model or outside of it. Instead of a public option, Congress voted to require the Office of Personnel Management, which runs the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plans, to contract with at least two multistate plans in every state health insurance exchange.
What are the pros and cons of having a public option? Does the Office of Personnel Management compromise achieve all or some of the goals of having a public option? Why do you believe the Office of Personnel Management compromise was acceptable to legislators but the public option was not?