A new policy brief issued by the University of California Berkeley School of Law’s Center on Health, Economic & Family Security and the Institute for America’s Future argues in favor of a public insurance option for Americans who lack employment-based coverage. This public plan would be similar to conventional Medicare and would be offered through a national insurance exchange, where it would compete with private insurance plans.
The policy brief’s recommendation is based on three assertions. First, the brief asserts that public insurance has a better track record than private insurance when it comes to reining in costs while preserving access. Second, it claims that over the last generation, public insurance has pioneered new payment and quality-improvement methods that have frequently set the standard for private plans. Third, the brief asserts that public plan choice is essential to set a standard for reining in costs and driving value against which private plans must compete.
The policy brief was introduced in a conference call on Wednesday, Dec. 17, in which the report’s author, U.C. Berkeley political science professor Jacob Hacker, was joined by Institute for America’s Future co-director Roger Hickey and U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Cal.), who chairs the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee.
Read the policy brief.
