Why spend money to reform the insurance companies?

[W_HAMILTON]

People are whining about the cost of any possible healthcare reform plan, so why not just focus on a public option? Create a strong, public option with the proposed improvements already built-in (electronic medical histories, etc), and ensure that doctors and hospitals are required to accept the new insurance. Forget the for-profit companies.

If spent the money on building an affordable, strong, quality public healthcare insurance option, wouldn't the existence of such a thing force healthcare companies to adjust on their own, or else lose customers to the public option?