Health Department Director Says 'Public Option' Not Enough

The Director of Louisville’s Department of Public Health and Wellness says a so-called ‘public option’ for the nation’s health care system isn’t a wise choice.As Congress wrestles with the details of a proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system, one option being tossed around is a so-called ‘public option’, which would keep most of the current system, but offer a government-sponsored health care plan people could choose. Dr Adewale Troutman says it isn’t an adequate solution to a problem that requires radical change.“If part of the problem is that we have a fragmented, non-system of lack-of-coordinated-care," he says, "how do we add one more fragment and feel that’s going to solve the problem?”Troutman made his comments on Wednesday’s ‘State of Affairs’. He supports the extension of health benefits to the uninsured, but feels only offering a public option doesn’t go far enough.President Barack Obama has a press conference set for tonight that is expected to deal mainly with the health care debate. You can hear it live at 8pm on WFPL.