This is done several other industries. Hospital emergency departments cannot refuse critical care. Most states mandate carrying car insurance and also have an assigned risk pool of last resort for people who cannot get a policy normally.
The benefit of a service mandate on private businesses is that it avoids having to set up a government retail-facing firm. Starting a public option is re-inventing the wheel. Either it stays starved of funding so it sucks, or it gets momentum and existing firms complain about unfair competition from the government.
Yes, and the government’s hesitation in properly compensating them (and choosing to avoid owning/operating them) is a major source of myriad problems. The government tasked them with a huge responsibility, gave them insufficient funds, and watched as they flail about teetering on the edge of failure.
>Most states mandate carrying car insurance and also have an assigned risk pool of last resort for people who cannot get a policy normally.
This is not comparable.
> The benefit of a service mandate on private businesses is that it avoids having to set up a government retail-facing firm. Starting a public option is re-inventing the wheel.
The government should have a retail facing firm, we are its customers. And it already does, with locations everywhere. Called USPS. And it already is tasked with identity verification duties for passport issuance. The only thing left is to bolt on the backend of an online bank. Go ahead and just buy a mid size ine one if that makes it easier, they are not very expensive.
Mandate the USPS (federal government) to offer electronic money accounts to everyone.