Last week the Congressional Budget Office “scored” the House of
Representatives’ revised health insurance “public option” and
found it would charge premiums higher than those of private
insurance and attract only six million buyers.
Thus, the growing worry that a public option would undercut
private policies and soon drive them out of business seemed to
evaporate. Speaker Pelosi, cheerleader for a “public option,”
gloated that the consolidated House bill came in under President
Obama’s declared ceiling cost of $900 billion and would not add
to the deficit.
The case for passage seemed airtight — for the moment. House
liberals had wheeled in a Trojan Pony (too small to be a horse
and, unlike the Trojan Horse, it couldn’t hold enough soldiers to
rout the enemy).
The CGO scores only what it is given (and is scrupulously
objective in its work). It had been given a public option with
enough restrictions to raise its initial cost; hence would
attract few buyers. This was done to soften the opposition of
moderate House Democrats.
Left-wing Democrats for decades have sought government-run
universal health insurance. They are driven by ideology, not a
desire for universal good health. They believe in outcomes, not
opportunity. In the case of health care, that means that those
who cannot pay for health insurance will get it cost-free from
the government. Those who are deemed unable to pay will grow in
number with each passing year. Never mind that countries with
universal government “care” have rationing and long waits.
Precise equality is more important than healthy citizens.
The left has been at this so long that it is willing to settle
for incrementalism. Case in point: S-CHIPS (State Children’s
Insurance Plan System), which Congress expanded this year. The
stated goal: make sure all children have health coverage. Now
eligible are families with incomes up to $60,000 annually whose
children can be up to 25 years of age. You can see where this is
headed.
So it will be with Pelosi’s deceptively toothless “public
option.” If the bill passes with this in it, they will settle for
it this way for a year or so, then “strengthen” it so that
premiums plunge.
When they do, many small businesses will decide that paying the
government tax for not covering their employees will cost less
than covering them and — surprise! — millions will be forced to
flock to the “public option.” Then, goodbye private insurance and
all that Obama talk about “if you like your coverage you get to
keep it.”
With a majority of Americans telling pollsters they do not like
sweeping health care “reform” of the sort Obama and his
Congressional allies have been cooking up, it will take little
time for organized opposition to unmask the current “public
option” for Trojan Pony it is.
Furthermore, the pony will soon go lame for two others reasons.
Until several days ago, Obamacare had in it a sop to buy off the
American Medical Association. That sop was a replacement of $247
billion in Medicare fee cuts to doctors. This was shot down in
the Senate by all Republicans, 11 Democrats and Independent Joe
Lieberman. Take the $247 billion out of the total Obamacare price
tag and it comes in just under the magical total of $900 billion.
As to the claim that Obamacare will not add “one dime” to the
deficit, it would be briefly true only because the plan’s
proposed new taxes would be levied beginning next year, but the
benefits would not kick in for five years. Present projections
only go out for 10. Some deal: pay for it for 10 years; get five
years worth of benefits. If Mr. Obama were a health or life
insurance salesman and tried to sell policies that way, he’d be
shown the door by the customers.
And so the Trojan Pony will indeed soon go lame.
