If the public option is 'of a decent quality and more affordable', why should the company not switch to it, and what could be wrong with that? Insurance company opposition to this course is based on their cold knowledge the product they offer is necessarily inferior to a public plan, since their business model requires them to pay out in benefits an ever decreasing portion of the money they take in in premiums. They can only manage this by denying claims, canceling policies when customers actually need them, and raising premiums. Health insurance companies pay out only four fifths of their revenue in benefits. A public plan would pay out all but a trifling percentage of its premium payments in benefits, since it needs neither profit nor the administrative staff required for denying claims and canceling policies. This built in advantage guarantees a public plan will provide better service at lower cost.