Coalition Says Public Health Option Would Lead to Single-Payer System

The current debate over health care reform has spawned town hall meetings all across the country and political jockeying all over Washington, D.C.

What it hasn't seemed to include as often is the perspective of those who are easy targets for Americans frustrated over the rising costs of health care - doctors and the insurance industry.

"There are no incentives to control costs" in the current reform package, said Dr. Donald Palmisano, national spokesperson for the Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights and a former president of the American Medical Association. "None of the current plans will save money, and you'll end up with people not getting care."

The coalition held a roundtable discussion Monday at the Little Rock Club to explain its opposition to the proposed reform and specifically to the inclusion of a public-health option. Palmisano said such a provision, rather than encouraging competition, would drive out private companies and create a single-payer system like those employed in Great Britain and Canada.

"We'd have government controlling the pricing, and that's a scary thought," said Joe Carter, president of Cornerstone Insurance Group in Little Rock and coalition member. "The fight right now is about control; that's all it's about."

Palmisano likened the public health option to playing a football game with the government where the government controlled the referees and could change the rules on the fly.

"You line up to kick a field goal, and they move the goal posts," he said.