English Literature

The inclusion of a public plan in the health care reform forms the basis of discussion in the analysis of this article. Gorin (83) examines this using examples of the problems and challenges that the Americans have been facing under the control of the private plans. By relating the situation to that of unfair market Gorin (83) clearly brings out the urgent need of the public plan. His opinion on the need of the public plan is backed by the estimate of the number of people that the plan would be able to cover in just a single estimate by one estimate, 40 million people could be covered through a new public option. This essay will analyze the viability of including public plan in the health care reform as discussed by Stephen Golan. The underlying argument in this article advocates for the inclusion of a public plan option in the Health Care Reform.

Why public option
It is due to the high level of contention on the health care reform and the possibly of including a public policy plan in the reform that the author arrives at this discussion. The press and the media have also contributed to the writing of this article since they are been accused of misguiding the public on the use of a public plan option in health care and causing many people to make uninformed decisions and conclusions on the benefits or disadvantages of the addition of the option.

The Audience
The article targets the American citizens, who are currently operating a health insurance policy provided by private plans as well as those who have not been able to access the services for the reason of high charges. Gorins major aim is to stir up the minds of the ignorant people and government in creating an informed awareness campaign for the public policy plan in the health care reform. He uses creative examples and illustrates his point of view using past experiences in the private plan in health care to come at a conclusion that the services by the private sector have never been at the interest of the citizens but rather for their own profit gains. This makes him a credible and valid author. Further, he ensures that the article addresses both the political and the socio-economic issues facing the country to bring out a balanced view of the importance of the public policy plan. On the political aspect, he relates the relevance of the topic of discussion to the earlier pledge by President Obama to create a national health insurance exchange which was later supported by Senator Max Baucus to include a new public plan option similar to Medicare in the health insurance exchange.

The aim of the article
The authors aim is to inform the general public about the public plan option in health policy and also how they can benefit from embracing this policy. He also aims at persuading the people to embrace the option because he states

Although the public plan approach is not perfect, it is a step in the right direction. Enacting it will be difficult, but embracing a single-payer system would be even more problematic, particularly because key segments of the Democratic Party, including the president, do not support it.

The contents of the article
To support and bring out the purpose of the article as the main issue of discussion, the author points out the strengths of the public plan option and discusses them in detail and then outlines the few demerits of public option but ensures that the strengths and arguments for the policy stands out and outdoes the challenges associated with it. He further makes his work effective and clear by providing a possible simple solution to the problem facing the application of the public plan option in the health care plan. He states that the extra expense that might be incurred in providing the services in a better way than the private sector would be to increase taxes on the high income bracket since they are not affected by lack of the facility in the country as they can easily afford it.

He also relates the relevance of the issue of public plan to the current uncertain economic times, stating that it calls for a national calamity like the depression to bring out universal health insurance. It thus comes out clear that the author has done adequate background study of the health care reform to enable him arrive at the conclusion that no other solution exists for dealing with the problematic private plans other than creating a public plan to work along with the private one that is already in existence.

A public health plan can control the total costs in a better way than the existing private plans. Using an example of the Medicares Prospective Payment System that was introduced in 2003, the private health insurance outlays per every enrollee had increased at approximately 8 per annum. Comparing this with 6 spending growth in Medicare per enrollee, it indicates that the rate of spending by the private plans has been left to grow and increase without any control on the increasing spending which is definite at the expense of the covered citizens. It is for this reason that the citizens are in dire need of a plan that will be more affordable and one that will enable them to spare some extra coins out of the health insurance plans.

As pointed out by Gorin (84) it is only competition (that is only possible through the creation of the public plan) that will cause the private plans to drive down their costs. However, this approach is only possible when both the public and private sectors are allowed to compete on a level ground. The creation of a level field calls for taking measures in ensuring that there is fair competition by banning of community rating, condition exclusions and risk adjustment mechanisms.

In the opinion of many, the public plan option may not be the perfect method, but it is however a step towards the right direction. And even though it will be a challenging issue to implement , it will be much better than putting in place a single payer system, which even the key democrats in the government do not support. It however has its own challenges and difficulties due to the fact that most people are not familiar with it and might consider it a failure.
 
Gorin considers the greatest challenge as being the implementation of the plan because it assumes that it will cost the government extra expenses, which might force it to increase taxes on the higher income group, a decision which is likely to result to objection of the plan by the affected group of people. However, he maintains a positive attitude that upon proper persuasion and campaign for the plan, it will be greatly embraced and hence transforms the attitude of the opposing group. In conclusion therefore, this articles analysis of the importance of the public opinion informs, persuades and criticizes the policy in a manner to convince a reader on not only the importance of the policy but also its urgency to health care reform. The author has used illustrations, direct quotations formal language data accuracy and diction to portray a positive message. This makes him a credible and informed writer.