Bad news for all of us do-gooders out there…So far, polling on the “Golden Rule” vs. “Unintended Consequences” is running 2/3rds against the Golden Rule.
It’s not surprising, really. The $2.5 trillion healthcare economy affects all of us. In addition to our consumption of all things healthy and thereuputic, millions of Americans support their family directly through the healthcare system–doctors, nurses, techs, therapists, pharmaceutical reps, researchers, yada yada yada. I’ve heard it argued (I’m not sure where…) that 80% of the cost in the system is in the form of salaries paid to healthcare workers, which means that any attempt to save healthcare costs will be hitting the pocketbooks of millions of people.
Not to mention the most important group of all, the mighty philanthropic and indispensable health insurance brokers…No wonder so many of us want to proceed more carefully!
I must admit that to date I have been strongly in favor of expanding health insurance for all Americans. While we all know that virtuallly no-one is denied care for acute conditions, I think the indirect cost to the economy is greatly understated by the uninsured who postpone preventive or early intervention visits because they cannot afford the care.
Do it incrementally, do it through the private sector and do it smartly, but I say expand coverage to the uninsured as much as we can.
That is my opinion, or at least I thought it was until last week when I read Charles Krauthammer op-ed “Obamacare: The Only Exit Strategy“. Perhaps he just set me up in his analysis and the logical arguments he made on behalf of the President and lawmakers seeking reform. But I must say that I was chilled when I got to the end of the article. Here are a few snippets:
What’s not to like? If you have insurance, you’ll never lose it. Nor will your children ever be denied coverage for preexisting conditions.
The regulated insurance companies will get two things in return. Government will impose an individual mandate that will force the purchase of health insurance on the millions of healthy young people who today forgo it. And government will subsidize all the others who are too poor to buy health insurance. The result? Two enormous new revenue streams created by government for the insurance companies…
…It’s the perfect finesse — government health care by proxy. And because it’s proxy, and because it will guarantee access to (supposedly) private health insurance — something that enjoys considerable Republican support — it will pass with wide bipartisan backing and give Obama a resounding political victory.
Isn’t there a catch? Of course there is. This scheme is the ultimate bait-and-switch. The pleasure comes now, the pain later. Government-subsidized universal and virtually unlimited coverage will vastly compound already out-of-control government spending on health care. The financial and budgetary consequences will be catastrophic.
However, they will not appear immediately. And when they do, the only solution will be rationing. That’s when the liberals will give the FCCCER regulatory power and give you end-of-life counseling.
Read the article, and let me know if you react the same way. It is really eye opening look at unintended consequences…or are they actually intended consequences???
