Rove: How to stop socialized health care
And yes, that's what the Obama administration wants, no matter what the spin is.
The good news is the Obama administration doesn't always get what it wants and that Karl Rove has outlined five arguments against socialized medicine in today's WSJ.Second, a public option will undercut private insurers and pass the tab to taxpayers and health providers just as it does in existing government-run programs. For example, Medicare pays hospitals 71% and doctors 81% of what private insurers pay.
The other three points are just as good.
Who covers the rest? Government passes the bill for the outstanding balance to providers and families not covered by government programs. This cost-shifting amounts to a forced subsidy. Families pay about $1,800 more a year for someone else's health care as a result, according to a recent study by Milliman Inc. It's also why many doctors limit how many Medicare patients they take: They can afford only so much charity care...
Fifth, the public option puts government firmly in the middle of the relationship between patients and their doctors. If you think insurance companies are bad, imagine what happens when government is the insurance carrier, with little or no competition and no concern you'll change to another company.
In other words, the public option is just phony. It's a bait-and-switch tactic meant to reassure people that the president's goals are less radical than they are. Mr. Obama's real aim, as some candid Democrats admit, is a single-payer, government-run health-care system.
And, if you live in Nevada and are interested in hearing more from Karl Rove, have I got a shameless plug for you.
The Nevada Policy Research Institute has just announced that Karl Rove, the Wall Street Journal columnist, Fox News contributor and "Architect" of President Bush's two campaigns, is going to be the keynote speaker at NPRI's 18th Anniversary Celebration. Wow, we're getting old. Agree or disagree with Rove, I guarantee it'll be interesting.
We'd like you to come - I told you it was a shameless plug.
You can register online or download, print and mail in a registration form.
I hope to see you there.
