Democratic Public Option Shifts Health Costs To Private Payers

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, (R-SC) charged Democrats with planning to load the unpaid cost of their public option onto the backs of people with private health insurance, speeding their drive to a single-payer system of health care.

"Trying to save costs on the backs of others is no savings," Inglis said. "That perpetuates the cost shift that's making private insurance more costly. The public option would add another government program that would ride on the backs of the privately insured. Private insureds are already paying a hidden premium tax for Medicare and Medicaid on top of the direct taxes they pay to support those programs."

Currently, industry analysts estimate people with private insurance pay 129 percent of the cost of hospital stays because Medicaid and Medicare programs reimburse less than the actual cost of providing health care. Medicare reimburses at roughly 92 percent of the actual cost of hospitalizations, while Medicaid reimburses about 87 percent of the cost of hospitalizations.

Congress Daily is reporting today that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is attempting to convince Blue Dog Democrats to tie the reimbursement of a public health care option to 5 percent above Medicare rates -- meaning this new government plan would shift 7.5 percent of the hospitalization costs to private payers.

"So Medicaid rides the privately insured for 13%, Medicare for 8% and the public option would ride for 7.5%," Inglis said. "So the Democratic plan would make private insurance more expensive, drive more people onto the public option and speed the slide to a single payer system.

"They continue to play around with cost shifting," Inglis said. "Speaker Pelosi, hear the people. Start over."

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