With a Public Option everyone wins

If the Democratic Party hopes to win back Congress in 2018 they need to change their strategy. They need to heed the wisdom of Bernie Sanders and cognitive scientist George Lakoff by having a clear message and framing it well.

During the Obama administration Republicans were obstructionists; people hated it. Now the Democrats are employing the same strategy. Democrats need to abandon the centrist positions of Bill Clinton and go back to progressive positions.

One way, is to acknowledge that the ACA is flawed and promote universal healthcare in the form of a Public Option. A plan like the Canadian system, that people are not required to buy, but which they can purchase, at a much lower price, because rather that making profits for stock holders the plan only needs to cover costs and be affordable.

Do we want an insurance company to profit when grandma’s hip is broken, when a child gets leukemia, or a baby born with a defective heart?

Businesses, large and small, likewise, will benefit financially with public option because their costs for covering workers will go down.

Like education that is covered by taxpayers, even people without children, because it benefits society to have an educated population, healthcare is a right. If people don’t have insurance, they go to emergency rooms and those costs get passed on to people who have insurance so that hospitals can recoup their losses. With a Public Option we all benefit. If Democratic leadership supports the people.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 5:07 PM with the headline "With a Public Option everyone wins."