Biden on MTP

I caught a few minutes of Joe Biden's appearance on Meet the Press yesterday. This part stood out:

The--here's the reason for the public plan. You've got to have some competition, David. You've got to have some--and by the way, people say there's a lot of--in some states, some regions, there's not a lot of people competing.

Biden says that the government needs to provide a "public option" -- a government-run health insurance plan -- to offer up competition. But let's think about that. I read one source the other day that said there are 2,000 different health care plans in this country and another source that said 1,300. I'm not sure which is correct -- or even if either one is -- but I think that we can safely say that there are plenty of choices out there.

Now, it is true that because of various state regulations and barriers to competition that not everyone has access to a competitive market for health care. But as Gov. Mark Sanford Dr. Scott Atlas point out, the solution is simply to break down these barriers:

Government can lower the price of health insurance and increase choice for Americans shopping for their own coverage by breaking down arbitrary barriers such as state lines and reducing costly and unnecessary coverage mandates. For instance, a national market for car or life insurance means South Carolinians can buy an Ohio policy or New Yorkers one from California. It makes similar sense to allow people to buy a health insurance plan, no matter from what state, that best fits their family and their values.

If the Obama Administration's primary motivation is to promote increased competition then this seems the logical way to go, especially given that it would cost the government nothing. But I have a feeling that the real objective is simply to expand the government's role.