Obamacare passed with no Republican votes.
Democrats made all of the false promises. "If you like your doctor, you
can keep your doctor. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."
There was no way either of those statements could be true under the law that
the Democrats passed. Everybody except Nancy Pelosi knew it. She "had to
pass it to see what's in it." Democrats made all of the enabling regulatory
decisions, like the contraceptive mandate. Democrats own Obamacare.
Obamacare is in a death spiral right now. As
rates go up, fewer, sicker, people sign up, then rates go up more. Obamacare
was designed to be a huge government health subsidy program, but Democrats
claimed that it wouldn't need subsidies. So Marco Rubio made them put it in
writing. One of the funding bills says that there will be no insurance
subsidies from the government. That's why all of the low ball rates have
bankrupted the made-for-Obamacare coop insurance companies.
The penalties for no insurance would have to be almost as high as the cost of the insurance to induce people to buy the insurance.
The program also didn't allow rate
differences by age. This was designed to force younger and healthier people to
subsidize older, sicker people. Unfortunately, the younger and healthier people
are having trouble finding jobs in Obama's crummy economy, so they can't afford
the overpriced insurance.
The Democrats brag that they have a plan.
The Democrats say the Republicans don't have a plan. The problem is that the
Democrats' plan is a gigantic failure, so it's not a real, sustainable
alternative. The Republicans want to use free market mechanisms to lower the
overall costs of healthcare in the economy. The Democrats say that's not a
plan, because the government has no active role. Given how badly the government
has messed up healthcare under the Democrats' Obamacare plan, do you really
want the government to be more involved in any new plan?
One area the federal
government might fix is in the supply of medical care. You do not need to be a
full-fledged MD to see patients with ordinary complaints like sore throats,
runny noses or minor injuries. In the US Military, these functions are handled
by Physicians' Assistants and Nurse Practitioners. Perhaps the new healthcare
plan should establish federal licensing requirements for Medicaid recipients
that would allow them to be seen by Physicians' Assistants and Nurse
Practitioners whether the state licensing laws allow it or not.
Another thing Congress
could do is limit malpractice awards in Medicaid cases to no more than twice
the economic damages. This would lower the cost of delivering healthcare to the
needy. The federal government should also set up high risk pools for people with uninsurable preconditions.
The government could mandate published prices for procedures for both doctors and hospitals. The
statistics should include both the list price and also the average price paid
by private insurance as well as the average price paid by government sponsored
insurance. If the government can force nutritional labeling standards on food
products, it should be able to force published price lists on hospitals and
doctors. The trend away from first dollar health insurance coverage is well
under way. The federal government should take steps to lower built in costs, increase
information available to consumers and encourage price competition.