The Lie of Choice
There’s one lie that I’m really sick and tired of hearing from proponents of socialized medicine, and specifically of the Obamacare bills. I keep reading that the new Government-run health care will increase consumer choice by allowing the Government to compete with existing health care plans. Frankly, that’s bullshit. Oh sure, for a few months or maybe even years existing private insurance carriers will continue to operate without much change, but in the end private insurers have to pass their expenses on to their customers. They have to operate at a profit or else they cannot remain a viable business.
The Government has no such restriction. It can offer its services seemingly below cost because its expenses are subsidized by the taxes paid by every working American. What will happen when private insurers have to compete against an entity that can sell its coverage below cost? The proponent of Obamacare might say that the private companies will be forced to cut costs and cut their rates, but the simple fact is that private insurers will never be able to compete with the Government. How can they, when their competitor is selling insurance at rates impossible to match? The Democrats may not be pushing for single-payer health care in name, but make no mistake, single-payer health care is exactly what we’re going to get.
And, many folks may reason, why shouldn’t we? Anyone with private insurance will be paying twice for their health care; once with their taxes and again with their disposable income. It’s not as though there will be an opt-out where you pay for your own care and pay nothing into the Government system.
Unless we stop these bills, private health care will go the same way in the US that it did in Canada: something that only the wealthiest among us can afford. The premium for quality health care will put private care out of reach of increasing numbers of Americans and more and more of us will end up on the Government program as private insurers either raise their rates to prohibitive levels or drop out of the game entirely.