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WASHINGTON - Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., chair of House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif, vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, joined health care expert Timothy Jost, and Campaign for America's Future co-director Roger Hickey on a conference call today to release Jost's new Institute for America's Future report, which found that private health insurance reform alone is not enough to reform the health care system as a whole, and that the public health insurance option remains a crucial lynchpin for the success of health reform.

"The fact that Medicare consistently polls more popular with seniors than private insurance polls with working people should tell us something about why we need a public plan for everybody," said Jost. "The private insurance industry has created a system by which people are not covered, undercovered, or lack financial security, and reform is absolutely necessary." "But, even if we outlaw explicit risk selection, private plans will still find ways to cherry pick."

Rep. Stark agreed that a public insurance option remains the key to successful health reform. "The bill won't pass the House without a strong public health insurance option," said Stark. "It's probably the most important part in getting any savings. It's only the way to accomplish successful reform without imposing draconian regulations on insurance companies. We need a new competitor in the race."

As for the idea of replacing the public health insurance option with a "health insurance cooperative," Stark said the cooperatives were the insurance equivalent of "unicorns." They may sound good, but they have no real-world viability.

For the insurance companies, even rumors that they might kill the public health insurance option has meant higher stock prices, said Rep. Becerra. "That's what they care most about. With competition from a public health insurance plan, the greater the chance we'll drive down the cost of health care." The public plan will "keep the insurers accountable and honest. It's not enough to bring everyone in and keep prices down without a public health insurance option."

Jost's report, "Private Health Insurance Reform: Better, But - Without Public Insurance Option - Not Good Enough," explains why a strong public health insurance plan is indispensable in meeting the goals of controlling costs, promoting competition among private health insurance companies, and ensuring that people with serious medical problems have an alternative to private insurance. Notwithstanding insurance reforms, private insurers are likely to continue to make themselves unattractive to people who are a "bad risk."

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NOTE: A full copy of the report "Private Health Insurance Reform: Better, but - Without Public Insurance Option - Not Good Enough" can be found at www.ourfuture.org/jost.**