system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: A lot of people in the US want a governmental healthcare option. Why can't we just make Medicare an insurance option?

This might be too politically charged, but I really don't have an answer to this one.
gpt
Because many people in the US don't think it's fair for the insurance companies to have to compete with a government funded option that can offer insurance at very low rates.  It would cause the insurance companies to lower their rates to compete and thus lose revenue and force them to lay off employees.  As it stands, people under 65 who don't have chronic conditions don't have access to Medicare, so insurance companies don't have to worry about their much lower rates.  Any government "public option" is shot down on these grounds.