A common indictment by conservatives against a public health insurance option is that it's a Trojan horse for a single-payer system. Providing people with a public option today, they say, will drive out private insurance companies tomorrow and lead to a purely government-run insurance program -- a la Medicare, but for all.
The problem with this argument is not that it's entirely implausible; the problem is that it implicitly prioritizes the well-being of providers over consumers. To its defenders, it seemingly doesn't matter how vexing the system is for patients as long as Blue Cross Blue Shield is profitable.
