House Democrat Coalitions Release Public Plan Principles

The “New Democrat Coalition” representing 69 moderate democrats and the “Blue Dog Coalition” representing 51 conservative democrats in the House of Representatives recently released principles for a public plan option to compete with private insurers.

Both coalitions agree that a public plan must compete on a level playing field with private insurers and must not pay Medicare rates, not require provider participation, not be managed by those regulating the market, be self-sustaining and not subsidized by tax revenue, be actuarially sound, follow the same rules and regulations as private plans, and establish a reserve fund as private plans are required to do now.

They both stress that premium subsidies should be available for the purchase of a private or public plan. The Blue Dog Coalition also states that a public plan should only be available as a fallback option in markets where it is deemed that there is inadequate competition and cost containment.