Here's another one the "debt commission" is throwing at Congress in a trial balloon.
The chairmen of President Obama’s fiscal commission are calling for a second look at a robust government-run healthcare program, which Congress shelved last year following acrimonious debate...
...They made the suggestion in a 50-page co-chairmen’s proposal released to reporters on Wednesday. It is one of many ideas for controlling the federal deficit that is likely to spark heated debate in Congress in the weeks and months ahead.
How can we get to the point where Congress accepts the wisdom of a public option? The debt commission does it by challenging Congress.
...Bowles and Simpson urged Congress to set a global target for total federal health expenditures after 2020 and to review costs every two years to keep the growth of healthcare spending in line with the increase of gross domestic product plus 1 percent.
If costs exceed targets, the fiscal commission’s draft proposal would require the president to submit to Congress reforms such as the public option to lower spending.
The chairmen’s proposal calls for consideration of “a robust public option” among other reforms such as an overhaul of the fee-for-service system; an increase in healthcare premiums; a premium support system for Medicare; and strengthened authority for the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which under current law will be empowered to restrict Medicare payments beginning in 2015. ...The Hill
It's sort of like this: "Go ahead, fellas! Try and meet a budget target your way. But if your ideas fail, then, damn it, you're obligated to offer the public option!"
