Nevada just passed a public option healthcare bill. The bill is intended to drive down the cost of health insurance by having the state issue policies at a lower price than is available currently from private carriers. The folly of government trying its hand at enterprise is on full display when it comes to health care.
No private company, regardless of sector, can compete with the state if it chooses to enter that business. The state has no incentive for cost containment. The state has no need to break even let alone, have a “profit”. The state can merely undercut private enterprise until they are out of customers who took the bait. There is no apparent “switch” in this game though. As the losses continue to add up and the program continues to expand both in coverages offered and persons eligible, it’s the taxpayers now on the hook for the ever-increasing costs of the “public option”.
Many consumers are starting to understand how oligopolies work. Amazon, CVS, Walmart, Home Depot and other behemoth box stores are driving small businesses out of business. They undercut price and offerings and once competition is driven away, consumers are left with fewer options and are at the mercy of the big business. The most glaring example are mom and pop book stores. Amazon is the largest book seller in the world. They have reduced what small book sellers who are left, to the fringes. Even large retailers like Barnes and Noble are suffering.
The same will happen with private sector health insurers. They will not be able to compete with the state as it dictates coverages but doesn’t allow for actuarially sound pricing. Obamacare is evidence of just how poorly they run insurance programs. The buyers of Obamacare only exist because the premiums they pay are below cost and even at that, subsidized by taxpayers. Many private health insurance companies stopped administering Obamacare policies because they couldn’t absorb the losses even with the reimbursement (taxpayer funded) from the state.
The ever-expanding size and scope of the state threatens our very survival. With more money directed to social programs, less is directed to the one item in our Constitution that is demanded, our security. This crowding out of the most critical reason for government is not lost on our adversaries. They can wait in the wings for the time when we are left defenseless having neglected our security.
Finally, I am still waiting for the data showing even one program run by the federal government that is fiscally sound and achieving its original intentions. Anyone?
Current Day Publius 