ObamaCare Debunked, Part II

Political optimism from people of my ilk is hard to come by these days; however, more and more, I'm slowly getting a sense that people are beginning to see ObamaCare for what it is - and rejecting it. Of course, with the way the President and the majority of Congress think, it still could pass anyways, despite the fact that people's attitudes towards health care are basically the same as they were in 1993-4; when they tried to force HillaryCare down our throats.

Anyways, the real reason I'm posting now is to direct your attention to a fine article over at Investor's Business Daily examining the myth that Medicare and Medicaid costs have risen at a slower rate than private health care costs. Needless to say, it's actually been the reverse, as Medicare and Medicaid have seen the highest increase in costs. This fact is significant because the great Hope-y One has cited Medicare as the example that his own 'Universal Helath Care' plan will follow. To quote:

"The centerpiece of President Obama's plan is a "public option," described by Tom Daschle as "a government-run insurance program, modeled after Medicare." The president asserts that this new Medicare-like program would cut costs.

But there are nearly 40 years of experience to consult, and they offer a resounding rebuttal. Across the years, Medicare's costs have risen far more than the costs of privately purchased care.

A new study I've completed, published by the Pacific Research Institute, takes all health-care spending in the United States and subtracts the costs of the two flagship government-run programs, Medicare and Medicaid. It then takes that remaining spending and compares its cost increases over time with Medicare's cost increases over time.

The results are clear: Since 1970 — even without the prescription drug benefit — Medicare's costs have risen 34% more, per patient, than the combined costs of all health care in America apart from Medicare and Medicaid, the vast majority of which is purchased through the private sector."

Indeed. Of course, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's been paying attention over the last, oh, let's say 15 years. Medicare and Medicaid costs have been growing at outrageous rates; further proving the absurdity of Obamarama's claim that he can reduce costs through more massive government spending. Simply put, it's kind of like trying to cure ballooning deficits with $trillion 'stimulus' packages - i.e. it's something that won't work, but that Obama will do anyways.

Furthermore, and more importantly, this article illustrates a concept that we have brought up here before: namely, that when it comes to solving the problem of rising health care costs, conservatives are the only ones with a solution that actually addresses and deals with this problem.

What Obama and other liberals have proposed is designed to give you enough money to be able to afford the higher cost. In other words, they just want to make sure you can cover it; and thus, whether or not their Government plans actually lower costs is irrelevant, so long as they can claim the number of uninsured Americans has decreased.

Nevermind that, for the umpteenth time, the problem is the cost, not the insurance, and the goal is the cure, and not coverage.

Conservatives want to introduce more competition into the market, drive down Doctors' costs with Medical Malpractice reform, etc., and, in the process, make the actual cost of health care more affordable - even if you don't get that fat check from the government to help you pay for it. This is why conservative solutions make better sense on healthcare, as they are more in line with what is actually needed.

And that would, of course, be those lower costs and higher cure rates - neither of which any Government-run health care program has ever done as well as the private sector.