No Public Plan Option in Medicare Part D

Edmund Haislmaier / July 10, 2009

Last Sunday, in an appearance on FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) repeated yet another justification for including a “public plan” option in health care legislation. Since other advocates of a public plan have recently been offering the same justification, it is worth taking a moment to point out that the claim is factually incorrect.

HOYER: Chris, can I just say something? When they adopted a prescription drug program, they provided for the possibility of a public option in their own plan if it wasn’t available

While liberals certainly wanted to include a “public plan” option in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program that Congress enacted in 2003, in fact the final legislation did not include such an option. Indeed, it actually contained a provision explicitly preventing the offering of Medicare drug coverage through a “public plan.” (more…)