Health Care: Will we get a choice?

Ramesh Ponnuru, "The Misguided Quest for Universal Coverage". Affordability and portability should be the goal.

WSJ editorial, "The End of Private Health Insurance: When government 'competes' guess who always wins?":

Under this model, the annual political warfare over Medicare payment policies would be imported to what is left of the private sector. Once government takes over the majority of U.S. health-care liabilities, it can either provide every service at huge and growing cost, or it can ration services. People who need an MRI or hip replacement or whatever will face waiting lines. Medical innovation will be at the mercy of the price controls hashed out in Washington.

And while prices will be controlled, costs won't--but someone else always pays the taxes, right?

More: Sally Pipes, DC Examiner:

High-ranking Democrats recently signaled that they might exploit a procedural maneuver in congressional protocol to pass major healthcare legislation without a single Republican vote. [snip]

Such measures guarantee that all customers will end up paying higher prices. The average state-level community rating ordinance increases insurance premiums by over 10 percent. The average guaranteed- issue ordinance drives up premiums a whopping 227 percent.

Exchange officials will also impose a battery of benefit mandates, which would require insurance plans to cover certain procedures that are hardly critical components of a good health insurance policy -- like acupuncture, chiropractic services, or hair prostheses.

More: Underpayment from the govt much, much worse than the cost of cost-shifting. NRO.

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