ONE hundred days has done little to improve the look of the new federal health care program in the eyes of U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, the doctor from Muskogee. Need a second opinion? The Senate's other physician, John Barrasso of Wyoming, agrees with Coburn's diagnosis.
There are few surprises in a new Coburn-Barrasso analysis of Obamacare. Unfortunately for President Obama and Democrats in Congress who voted for the nearly $1 trillion program, the passage of 100 days hasn't improved the plan's cost or favorability, as the senator-doctors point out.
Americans remain dubious about what the program will do to existing health care insurance and about what it won't do: rein in underlying costs. Coburn and Barrasso supply reasons.
These include a familiar litany: a structure that pushes insurance premiums higher instead of lower, higher costs to consumers as medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies pass along governmental fees, restrictions that will cause Americans to lose their current insurance, 16 million herded into Medicaid, cuts to Medicare and more.
Most Americans didn't like Obamacare when it struggled through Congress, mainly because they feared promises made on its behalf wouldn't materialize. Their instincts were correct. Obamacare surely will cost more and be less effective than advertised.
Meanwhile, the health care news only gets worse, Obama announcing this week he'll use a special temporary appointment -- bypassing the Senate -- to name as Obamacare's administrator a doctor who has admired Great Britain's government-run health care system. How's that for hope and change?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Surprise, surprise - a couple of right wing Republicans don't like Healthcare Reform. Whodathunkit?
Post a Comment