The American Spectator

The Public Policy

I had hoped that Paul Krugman would make giving up his jeremiads on universal health care one of his New Year's Resolutions. No such luck. Indeed, time had barely run out on 2006 when the New York Times ran one of his most embarrassingly ill-informed efforts to date. So let's get 2007 off on a better note with an adequate fisking, shall we?

Krugman writes, "The U.S. health care system is a scandal and a disgrace." Although Krugman is overstating his case, I would agree that our health care system has some serious problems. While I would argue that the reason is government mismanagement, I'm guessing Krugman thinks government is the solution. In the next sentence Krugman writes, "But maybe, just maybe, 2007 will be the year we start the move toward universal coverage." Surprise.

p>Anyway, Krugman continues: br> /p>

In 2005, almost 47 million Americans -- including more than 8 million children -- were uninsured, and many more had inadequate insurance.

Apologists for our system try to minimize the significance of these numbers. Many of the uninsured, asserted the 2004 Economic Report of the President, ''remain uninsured as a matter of choice.''

And then you wake up. A scathing article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times described how insurers refuse to cover anyone with even the slightest hint of a pre-existing condition. People have been denied insurance for reasons that range from childhood asthma to a ''past bout of jock itch.''

br> What a distortion! First, note how Krugman infers that lack of insurance is due largely to denial of coverage by private insurance companies. But does Krugman have any evidence of that other than the anecdotal presented in the L.A. Times article? Well, no, because lack of insurance is due to many factors and surveys that have looked at the matter have found about five percent of the uninsured are denied coverage due to poor health.

Furthermore, the Economic Report of the President (pdf) does not minimize the problem of the uninsured by dismissing it as a "matter of choice." Indeed, the report notes that there are many reasons why people are uninsured, including those who are temporarily uninsured (four months or less) or have access to public programs like Medicaid but have not signed up (see page 197). Of course, treating the President's report fairly would undermine Krugman's argument for government-run health care.

p>Next, br> /p>

topics:
Taxes, Health Care, Business, Medicaid, Books, NATO, Medicare