Here is a good CNN.com list of some of the terms being used in the U.S. Healthcare reform ruckus debate. I am a college educated person, well familiar with the healthcare system due to having a chronic illness (Crohn's Disease) and moderately politically informed. If I have a hard time defining "public option" vs. "single payer" then I bet a lot of other people do too. Quotes from the CNN definitions:
Public option: A public option is a government-funded, government-run health care option, similar to Medicare. Under the plan, people would pay premiums 10 to 20 percent less than private insurance. Some Democrats have said it will be impossible to pass a bill without a public option, but some Republicans have called the idea a deal-breaker.
Single-payer: Under a single-payer system, the financing system relies on one "payer" -- which could be a government-run agency -- to fund all health care costs billed by doctors, hospitals and other health professionals.
I think I like the public option, personally. I think there should be a baseline coverage available to everyone, but I think its important for employers to continue to offer the benefits they do now. I would not like to see a government plan kill competition. And I do not think it would, as described by Mr. Obama companies would be incentivised to provide private health plans for their employees. I personally think that companies who hire largely part time workers and do not offer benefits to part timers are a big part of our current problem. Walmart, for example. I would like to see a tax break for companies that offer health insurance to all workers. Let's reward American companies like Starbucks, Home Depot, and Best Buy.
Whole Foods? Well, I am of two minds. I think their CEO is a real scary idiot. I knew that when he got caught posting anonymously on Yahoo Finance a few years ago, talking trash about another competing health food chain that he was actually trying to buy. That's snaky, and illegal behavior. It's called insider trading and market manipulation. Why did Martha Stewart go to jail and he is still running Whole Foods and bad mouthing the idea of the government providing health care to people who can't afford it? Their store, by the way does offer health insurance to part time workers, but only after they work for 800 hours. At 30 hours a week that will take 6 months.
Whole Foods is a publicly held company. I don't own any Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFMI) stock, but if I did I think I would want them to fire that jerk. I think he is bad for business.
