Obama Supports Vouchers
for healthcare.
At least, that's how I interpret the descriptions I have seen of his current plan, although I gather any interpretation is pretty uncertain at this point. He appears to be proposing:
1. That everyone be required to have health insurance.
2. That low income consumers get their health insurance subsidized.
3. That there be a "public option" that is not subsidized.
Combine those, and it looks as though low income consumers are getting a voucher that they can spend on either private or public health insurance. That's almost precisely the plan that Obama rejected for schooling when he decided to cancel the D.C. voucher experiment. The only differences are that, in the schooling case, there was still a net subsidy to the "public plan," since the amount of the voucher was less than the per pupil expenditure in the public schools, and that in the health plan, some consumers will be paying part of the cost of the public plan with their own money.