‘public option’ strongly supported by The NY Times
In a move to prove how economically inept they are, the Times has editorialized their favoritism toward the much-discussed “public option.”
The last para espouses that, eventually, the “public option” be available for everybody.
I’ve written before about why I think the public option is a bad idea (and no, not because some conservative loud-mouth on “talk radio” told me what my opinion should be). The underlying reason is that our medical system as a whole isn’t very good, and additional activism by government will make it worse – in fact, cementing the current system in place for many more years to come.
We need reform, but the “reform” currently being proposed will further lead us astray if it includes the public option. I have a vested interest in cost control (that doesn’t decrease quality). Hence, my bias in this debate is in favor of real and substantial reform (again, something I’ve written about in the past).
The bottom line is this. Although government can make promises, such as liability acceptance for millions of people (via the provision of insurance), that does not mean that the government can guarantee outcomes. The government can promise that people will get insurance (and, by extension, medical care), but that doesn’t make it so. Government can’t guarantee that its own market interventions won’t augment the already-high level of market inefficiencies, leading to higher aggregate costs associated with medical care and treatment. Even if government covered everyone in this country, that does not mean that a) medical coverage would truly be affordable – imagine if income tax rates went up to 60% for most Americans, or that b) quality would be higher or as high as what we have now (imagine waiting months for time-sensitive surgery, or years for “optional” surgery).
Government can’t guarantee outcomes even though government can accept liability with the stroke of a pen. The role of government at various levels has rendered the medical insurance (“healthcare”) market less efficient, with aggregate costs much higher (and far less transparent) than they otherwise would be.
Greater inefficiency and higher aggregate costs (with likely lower quality of service) is a future worth avoiding.