In 2009, during the debate over ObamaCare, many Democrats were advocating for a "public option" in health care. This old, bad idea was abandoned then, but, in the midst of ObamaCare's failure, some on the left are coming back to the idea. Even Hillary Clinton says she supports it.
A public option would work a lot like other government efforts at health insurance and health care: Medicaid, Veterans' Affairs, ObamaCare's exchanges and co-ops. All of these programs have suffered from fiscal problems, waste, abuse, high costs, and perhaps most importantly for consumers… low quality. These programs simply do not provide the level of service, access, and coverage available in private plans.
Since the left is trying to recycle this bad idea, I thought I'd recycle an excellent video submitted to IWV's video contest in 2009. This video explains – simply – why a public option is a bad idea.