John Lott Fact-Checks President Obama, Part II
Do we need a nonprofit health insurer to provide more competition for the for-profits? Here is what President Obama said:
An additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange.
Here is John Lott’s reply:
In 29 of the 43 states that data are available for in an American Medical Association report, the dominant company in the “full” insurance market is a non-profit company. In state after state, Blue Cross and Blue Shield hold the largest market share. On average, the largest non-profit holds over half of the “full” market share in those 29 states. Why add another non-profit operation to the mix?
Good post.
All of which raises the question: Does President Obama really know what he is talking about?
Vicki, I think the answer to your question is “no.”
The problem is the media lets Obama get away with misstatements of fact (to put it charitably) and they never call him on these things.