As I've said over and over, a public "exchange" is not a plan; it's a market place where you choose between plans. It's not one of the products, and it's definitely not a public option product. You can only buy private plans in this exchange. So there's no meaningful choice. Why is this so hard to grasp?So what do we have left?
1. The insurance companies get the federal government to mandate that everyone must purchase insurance. (Insurance companies 1, consumers 0)
2. There are only private insurance plans available. (Private Insurers 2, consumers 0)
3. The federal government gets states who feel like it to create an exchange to help consumers shop for -- and insurance companies sell -- their private insurance. (Private insurers 3, consumers 0) [And insurance companies get an extra point in states that don't like federal intrusion]
4. The federal government then subsidizes consumers to help them pay the full premiums charged by the private insurance plans. Insurers win! 4-0!
Does this look familiar? Well, yes, because this is exactly what the private insurers proposed months ago, and are now salivating about.