Health Care Update
Last night, the Democrats ‘caved’ on expanding Medicare to appease Sen. Lieberman. Sen. Reid tried projecting a positive tone:
“Democrats aren’t going to let the American people down,” Majority Leader Harry Reid said after a closed-door meeting called to discuss last-minute trade-offs in the legislation that President Barack Obama has made a top priority. “I’m confident that by next week, we will be on our way toward final passage.”
That sounds familiar to what Sen. Reid said last week. That proposal didn’t last a week. That’s why I’m hesitating before I start thinking it’s a done deal. I’m not convinced that this legislation will get the approval of the American people.
This legislation still has $460,000,000,000 in Medicare cuts. It’s still got $400,000,000,000 in tax increases at a time when our economy is struggling. The legislation still contains individual and employer mandates. The legislation still will include lots of restrictions and other mandates, too. The legislation won’t cut insurance premium costs and it certainly won’t reduce the deficit or bend the cost curve downward.
In the end, this bill is somewhat better but it’s still terrible legislation. That’s because it’s coming at the problem from the wrong approach. If you want real reform, you need to start with reducing costs to people. That means reducing the number of coverages mandated by the government. HSAs and high deductible policies should play a prominent role in reform.
We also need to get government out of the health care industry as much as possible. Their Medicare reimbursement rates contribute greatly to the cost-shifting onto private insurance.
The tax increases included in Sen. Reid’s legislation will also cause a new round of layoffs just when the economy is showing signs of showing signs. Sen. Reid’s legislation will drive up labor costs by increasing taxes on small businesses. It isn’t a stretch to think that passing the Democrats’ legislation will hurt the economy.
In other words, it’s a new headline but it’s the same tired old story. The Democrats’ legislation is a bassackwards approach to reform, which is why the people are people are consistently and loudly rejecting it.
One positive thing it might do, albeit on a tiny scale, is that it’ll force Congress into hiring body guards and purchasing body armor. That’s assuming that they’ll return to their districts and states.
Technorati Tags: Mandates, Employer Mandates, Individual Mandates, Taxes, Uninsured, Medicare Cuts, Harry Reid, Joe Lieberman, President Obama, Democrats, HSAs, Health Care Costs, Market Solutions, Conservatism
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
December 15th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
It pretty obvious to this old sailor that “the public be damned” is the watchword of the White House, and they are the ones pulling the strings attached to Harry Rieds short and cuirlies.
Look, were gonna get this jammed down our throats inspite of all the phone calls, letters, emails etc etc etc. They have alredy tuned that noise out. After all, were just astro turf
This isnt any more about the “not letting the American people down” horseshit from Reid than it is the price of tea in Yanghzi province.
What this about is power: Taking it away from us and giving it to the government before the Congress changes hands and becomes a trifling figurehead.
They are gambling that the right will not be able to get it together enough to change Congress that much, and if they do, the damage will have been done anyway.