Congress crippled the Affordable Care Act by eliminating a public option. There is no reason a public option cannot work alongside private insurance. Private insurers oppose it because it would reduce their profits and make it difficult to pay exorbitant salaries to their CEOs. Medicare has been instrumental in lowering costs (and could do more if Congress allowed Medicare to bargain with pharmaceutical companies). Why not make Medicare available to anyone who wanted it. Pre-65 subscribers might have to pay more than retirees, but costs would likely be cheaper than private insurance, especially if everyone was required to enroll in some plan. The same subsidies that low income subscribers receive now on the exchanges could be used to make costs reasonable.
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