The controversial public option — a new, government backed health plan — would be an option only for a minority of Americans. Most people who get coverage at work would still be covered at work under the health reform bills, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
And while it’s true that employers have some choice when they pick their company plan, that choice can be limited in many states dominated by one or two insurers, the Associated Press recently pointed out.
For example, a 2007 report from the American Medical Association found that WellPoint accounted for 78 percent of the Maine market, and Aetna had a 10% share.
“There is a serious problem with the lack of competition among insurers,” Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican, told the AP. “The impact on the consumer is significant.”
Insurers say figures like that still leave room for choice. “You can have a very competitive market and still have companies with a high market share,” a lobbyist for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association told the AP.
Leonhardt notes that a bill backed by Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Dem, and co-sponsored by a handful of Senators from both parties, would provide significantly more choice by allowing Americans who now get their insurance at work to shop for their own plan on an insurance exchange. That shift would also give people a clearer picture of health care costs, which are now largely borne by employers and often hidden from employees.
But support for employer-based health insurance remains strong in Congress, and Wyden’s bill hasn’t gotten much traction.
Insurance Bonus: The Health Blog talked health insurance with Wyden last year. Here’s the post from that conversation.
