Biden proposes a “Public Option” for healthcare – here’s how much it will cost you

By Lanhee J. Chen and Daniel L. Heil – Fellows at the Hoover Institution.  They conclude “Taxes for the typical middle-income family would rise by an inflation-adjusted $3,900 to pay for the public option and keep debt below 150% of GDP in 2050.”

Joe Biden has promised that no families with incomes under $400,000 will see tax increases if he is elected president. But that’s a promise he won’t be able to keep if he gets his way and Congress creates a government-run health insurance plan—a public option.

Mr. Biden and other supporters of the public option argue it would be a relatively modest change to the nation’s health-care system because, unlike single-payer proposals, it would add nothing to federal deficits. But once enrollees and health-care providers start applying political pressure to keep premiums low, taxpayers would be on the hook. Medicare’s legislative history is filled with broken promises to restrain spending.

Read the full op-ed here.