This prospect doesn’t seem to bother President Obama or many other Democrats – which makes sense, from their perspective. For powerful government officials, the plan would work well. Their political influence will guarantee that they (and their friends) will receive the finest treatment available under a government-run system.
For other Americans, however – including regular people without “pull,” who have nonetheless worked hard to have the means to buy good private coverage – the prospect should be profoundly frightening. A government bureaucracy controlling your medical care is likely to combine the efficiency of the post office with the compassion of the IRS. Imagine a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles – but to secure lifesaving treatment for yourself, a spouse or child, rather than simply to obtain a driver’s license. What a nightmare.
Nevertheless, proponents of the “government option” continue to operate on the assumption that the laws of supply and demand can be suspended at their whim. Just last week, President Obama simply decreed that federal payments to hospitals will be cut by $200 billion over the next ten years. How, exactly, is that supposed to work? And, more fundamentally, in a capitalist country of free men and women, when did it become permissible for the government to ignore the free market, and dictate what it would pay for specific products and services regardless of their actual cost or value?
Certainly, at present, better health care is available to those with the capacity to pay for high-quality private insurance. But will anyone be better off if that inequality is remedied by President Obama’s social leveling, where there will simply be a single, lower standard of health care for everyone – except for powerful politicians, of course?