As a third-year medical student at the University of Miami, I am concerned by your justification for supporting the public option (Public option, Nov. 1 editorial): ``Private insurers don't make a profit by insuring people likely to need coverage'' could be distilled to ``sick people cost more.''

Insurance companies then charge more, making coverage increasingly unaffordable. The Congressional Budget Office says the public plan would be more costly than the average private plan.

To some, the solution is making it illegal to discriminate against those with preexisting conditions. This is known to drive up insurance premiums, making coverage for the young and healthy cost-prohibitive.

The solutions? Go after Medicare fraud. Sever the union of employers and insurance by taxing employer health plans as income and returning it to employees as a tax credit to purchase insurance. Allow the purchase of insurance across state lines to create a robust market with coverage mandates to be decided by a panel of physicians. Institute meaningful tort reform.

Unleashing the remarkable ability of the American consumer to bring down costs and increase quality is the real public option.

NICHOLAS J. ROHRHOFF, Miami

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@