Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and co-sponsor of HR-676 answered criticisms from single-payer advocates. She said the public option is not a compromise, but a strategic step toward the single-payer system and the elimination of the private insurance industry.
The private sector is united in opposing any legislation that would expand publicly funded health care over and against the virtual monopoly of insurance companies.
The public option is simply the opening salvo against the private sector, Schakowsky and other speakers said.
