Denver Health CEO Patricia Gabow extols virtues of “public” government-run health programs, Denver Health included (Denver Post, July 5). Yet she neglects to mention the problems. For example, how they increase private insurance premiums by underpaying doctors, how doctors often refuse to see patients, and how these financially unsustainable programs will suffocate the U.S economy.
But for sake of argument, let’s say these government programs are as good as Dr. Gabow says. Then why not let them compete fairly with charities and commercial insurers? If they are so worthwhile, forcing taxpayers to fund them would be unnecessary, not to mention insulting.
How about a tax credit such that Medicare, Medicaid, or SCHIP lost a dollar of tax revenue for every dollar a taxpayer donates to comparable charity? Surely these programs wouldn’t fear some healthy competition? We can call it the “private option.”
