Morning Bell: The Road To Government-Run Health Care

Conn Carroll / September 01, 2009

Illustrating how proponents of Obamacare “lost the month of August,” Politico notes that while Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AR) claimed health care would be transformed “under President Obama’s leadership” in late July, by mid-August he had been humbled, telling a 1,000 person townhall: “I’ve never been a big fan of this public option.” How are Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) planning on bringing the likes of Rep. Snyder back in line? Again from Politico:

Leaders say their strategy is to convince members that nothing is set in stone and that they are more than open to negotiations. And they’re engaging in a softer sell, prioritizing health insurance reforms while pitching the public option as something that’s way, way down the road.

The American people have done a tremendous job this August educating their elected leaders on the fact that they have no desire for government-run health care. And they have every right to believe that President Obama’s “public option” will achieve exactly that. Earlier this year, The Lewin Group released a study showing that under the July 15th draft of Obamacare, enrollment in the public option would reach 103.4 million people including about 83.4 million people who would lose their private insurance and be nudged onto the public plan. But also in July, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) then released their own analysis showing that only 11 million people would enroll in the public plan. How can these numbers be off by a factor of ten? The answer demonstrates just how dangerous the creation of any public plan really is, no matter how small it is initially. (more…)