The "Public Option" that is under such debate is just that ... an OPTION! And one that will reduce EVERY American's premium!!

Remember this photo from about a year ago? She had NO option, if you recall!

I was a civil service employee with the Federal Government for most of my working life. As P-BO said today (very clearly):

"The federal government is a classic example. The federal health employees program is a pretty good deal because you've got several million people who are part of it. So that gives you a lot of bargaining power with the insurers. Well, the exchange will provide that same market power to help negotiate with the insurers to drive prices down."

That's not so hard to understand, is it? Well, neither is the "Public Option" which our president addressed in brilliantly continuing his answer to the very same question:

"And the other thing that we do want to do -- now, this is controversial, and I understand some people are worried about this -- we do think that it makes sense to have a public option alongside the private option, so you could still choose a private insurer, but we'd also have a public plan that you could choose from that would be not for profit, wouldn't have, hopefully, some of the same high administrative costs, and would be potentially more responsive to your needs at a lower cost. I think that helps keep the insurance companies honest, because now they have somebody to compete with. And I have to say, the reason this has been controversial is, you know, a lot of people have heard this phrase "socialized medicine" and they say, "We don't want government-run health care. We don't want a Canadian-style plan."

Obama finished his answer (still to the very same question) with:

"Nobody is talking about that. We're saying: Let's give you a choice. You can choose the private marketplace or this other approach."

Kapish? Option is spelled: O-P-T-I-O-N !!!