Insurance “exchanges”: government-run insurance w/o a “public option”

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

The Wall Street Journal editorial board explains how so-called insurance exchanges of the House and Senate health care bills are government-run insurance: Both bills [House and Senate] blow up the individual and small-business insurance markets, to be replaced with new "exchanges" in which people can buy heavily subsidized coverage and insurers ...

Medicare “buy in”: more deficits, higher premiums, & step toward single-payer

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

A Wall Street Journal editorial summarizes: [Harry Reid] is claiming that a Medicare "buy-in" for people from ages 55 to 64 has overcome the liberal-moderate impasse over the "public option." But if anything, this gambit is an even faster road to government-run health care. ... Mr. Reid's buy-in simply cuts out the ...

Obama Care kills competition

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Cato's Michael Tanner summarizes why the proposed "public health plan" would drive commercial insurers out of business: A government-run plan would have an inherent advantage in the marketplace, because it ultimately would be subsidized by taxpayers. The government plan could keep its premiums artificially low or offer extra benefits, because it ...

The “Public” insurance plan’s huge market share

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Talk about unhealthy competition.  From Heritage: A new study released today by the Lewin Group, one of the most well-respected health care consultancies in Washington, gives new estimates on “The Cost and Coverage Impacts of a Public Plan” like the one being considered by President Obama and the congressional leadership. The ...

Government insurance expansion wastes taxpayer dollars

Friday, January 9th, 2009

The Denver Post published my letter on Thursday: New insurance law wastes taxpayer dollars Re: “The governor’s first two years; Two views of his energy level,” Jan. 4 Denver & The West story. The Post reports that Gov. Bill Ritter “signed a law that … could result in as many as 50,000 more ...

Cutting tax rates would fund charitable programs to replace government charities

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

From the Pacific Research Institute: In 2005, Americans contributed $48 billion to health and social services via individual donations, as well as through foundations and corporations. Philanthropic giving is insensitive to tax rates, constantly hovering around two percent of income for the last half century. However, income is extremely sensitive to tax rates, ...

Obama’s health care reform: road to single-payer serfdom?

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Will Obama's proposal for a nation-wide mandate for guaranteed issue insurance decimate insurance companies to the point that government will have to "save the day" with a single-payer monopoly that Obama really wants?  Consider this from the Associated Press: Barack Obama's campaign promise should prove irresistible to the millions of uninsured: ...

Medicaid is hazardous to your health

Monday, August 27th, 2007

Colorado's 208 Commission has released detailed evaluations of its four favored health care reform proposals. The Commission's goals include improving access, encouraging personal responsibility, and supporting a "financially viable, sustainable and fair" system. Yet these proposals preserve or expand Medicaid, which fails to meet these goals. This is documented in ...