No one, I imagine, was shocked to learn that the White House’s “compromise” health reform plan is a compromise, as Grace-Marie Turner says, “between two bad bills that are hugely unpopular with the American people”. The new proposal – not formulated in enough detail for its costs to be evaluated by the Congressional Budget Office – borrows from both bills, adds nothing suggested by Republicans except for a few safeguards against Medicare fraud, and offers as its one new idea price controls for health insurance.
The price control proposal is the key evidence that the President has decided that Obamacare will go out with a whimper rather than a bang. No one can seriously argue that establishing a new federal regulatory agency is within the scope of the budget reconciliation process. Since non-germane amendments require 60 Senate votes, which the Democrats don’t have, price controls are won’t survive. As a legislative strategy, bringing them forward is pointless, which is a strong indicator that the President doesn’t expect a vote to take place.
This ploy is a transparent continuation of the Administration’s effort to shift attention from the Democrats’ unpopular health care schemes to that favorite populist target, greedy insurance companies. We’ll hear nonstop excoriations of the industry, inspired by the hope that the next election can be turned into a referendum on AIG, Anthem and Blue Cross rather than the pitiful ineptitude and radicalism of the Democratic Party.
Well, it’s a plan – and it delays the destruction of American medicine by at least another year.
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