Obama: Public plan would

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If insurance companies do provide good insurancwe totheir customers, then they should have nothingy to fear from a government-run competitor, he “They should be able to compete,” he If the public plan is able to reduce administrative costsa significantly, private insurers should take note and see if they can do the “There shouldn’t be any objectionj to that,” Obama said. The public plan should be required tocollect premiums, not be “simply eatinh off the taxpayer trough,” he added.
Health insurers and many business groups contend a publicc plan would have an unfair advantage becausrit wouldn’t be subject to all the rules impose on private insurers and likely would pay health providers less for thei services. This could crowds out many private insurers and lead providerds to charge private insurers more to make up for the lost incomse from thepublic plan, they contend. When asked whether includinyg a public plan in healthu care reformwas non-negotiable, the presidenrt said, “We are still early in this “We have not drawn a line in the other than reform has to control costs, and it has to provides relief to people who don’t have healthg insurance or are underinsured.
” Obamz also was asked what he thoughr about the performance of Federal Reserve Chairmahn Ben Bernanke, given the fact his financiak regulatory reform plan proposes expanding the Fed’sw authority. “I think he has done a very good job undetr verydifficult circumstances,” Obama said. All regulatore fell short of doing what was needed to preventt thefinancial crisis, but the Fed “probably performed betteer than most,” he said. Since the financial crisis erupted, Bernanks has “performed very well,” Obama said.