Like all big lies, the public "option" deceives individuals not only through distortion, but also omission.
And unless the American people are warned and stand up for the true health options they currently possess, Barack Obama and Congress will rapidly enact legislation that is designed to degrade and, eventually, destroy those choices that Americans today take for granted.
Through a sleight of hand, proponents of the public "option" act as if there are not already other public options already available when there are: Medicare, Medicaid, and other state and local services for the elderly, poor, and children.
This is the omission. It is designed to fool the American people that they do not already have enough "choices" in health care. That the government does not do enough already. Or that, somehow, there are not enough options currently available. Which, of course, is a lie.
The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation. As of 2006, the Census Bureau estimates that some 201.7 million, or 71.5 percent of Americans with health insurance, get their insurance privately. 28.5 percent of those with insurance, or 80.3 million, get it from the government.
Presently, the average premium for single coverage is $4,700, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. All told, in 2007, the U.S. spent $2.4 trillion in total health care spending.
Not enough options? $2.4 trillion is just the beginning. The price tag for health care expenditures, NCHC projects, will rise to $3.1 trillion by 2012, and $4.3 trillion by 2016.Consider this: Under the House version of the so-called public "option," individuals up to 400 percent of the poverty level, or making approximately $43,320 or less annually, will be eligible for some level of health coverage under the plan whether through the public "option," Medicaid, or otherwise.
There's a small problem. As of 2006, there were approximately 91.5 million people aged 25-65 who fell into that income bracket, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Factor in the nearly 35 million who were 65 and older at that time, and the total figure comes to over 125.8 million who will be eligible for government-administered health care.
And once the new so-called public "option" crowds out and eliminates all other private health options (as the program's sponsors fully expect it to do according to page 16 of the bill), sooner or later the total entitlement will extend to all Americans.
The cost to taxpayers? Far, far more than we can possibly bear.
Presently, with the average premium costing $4,700, if all 125.8 million of those eligible received fully-funded "average" health plans, the total burden to taxpayers would rise to a staggering $591.26 billion annually.
Or, 91.5 million people as of 2006 aged 25-65 who fell into that income bracket, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Throw in the 35 million who were 65 and older at that time, and the total figure comes to over 125.8 million eligible for ObamaCare, compared with 80.5 million who now receive their health care from the government.
As a result, approximately 45 million more people-the exact figure the Census Bureau reports as being uninsured-will be receiving their health care from Uncle Sam.
And, how can health care be provided to 45 million more people by the government in a "deficit-neutral" matter, as the Obama Administration has promised?
It can't. It will cost more than $211.5 billion extra every year.
What's worse, according the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 report, 31.85 million of the 46.9 million it reported as uninsured actually had some form of health coverage that year.
The numbers really cannot lie, although the report does. Out of a total population of 297.05 million, the report states on Page 20 that the "number of people covered by private insurance was... 201.7 million in 2006" and the "number of people covered by government health programs was... 80.3 million in 2006."
Therefore, 282 million had insurance. Which means that out of a total population of 297.05 million, 15.05 million did not have insurance. Right?
Not at the U.S. Census Bureau. There, 297.05 million minus 282 million equals 46.9 million Americans uninsured. How?
Well, call it "fuzzy math." In the above figure, taken from Page 20 of Census' report, the fine print reads, "The estimates by type of coverage are not mutually exclusive; people can be covered by more than one type of insurance during the year." But, nobody can be covered by insurance and not covered by it.
In other words, some 31.85 million people reported as uninsured in 2006 did have some coverage, and the Census included them in both categories. Why? They were probably between jobs at some point during the year, which is not abnormal.
It doesn't mean they do not have access to health care at all. They were simply temporarily uninsured. Only 15.05 million people fell into the category of being completely uninsured according to the Census' own data.
And yet, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama are insisting on their government takeover of the entire system.
Advocates claim a public "option" will create competition between the public and private sectors--as if the private sector could compete with a "business" with an unlimited money supply that has no incentive to even operate in the black. This year alone it finds itself in a $1.8 trillion hole, before any public "option" has even been enacted.
Once passed, the federal government will cover what it can through revenue, and then just borrow and/or print the rest. What will private health carriers do?
Since they cannot charge lower rates and then borrow to make ends meet, they'll lose customers. And then have to jack up premiums ever further in order to stay solvent.
Employers on the other hand will have lost the incentive to provide coverage to employees. To save costs, they'll pass the buck back to the taxpayers, who will now be guaranteed coverage through the public "option."
The greatest misrepresentation of all is that the public "option" will at all be optional. It will not be. Because it cannot be. It is designed to crowd out private options by guaranteeing coverage on a federal level-indeed, by mandating it.
President Obama seems optimistic: "When I say if you have your plan and you like it... or you have a doctor and you like your doctor, that you don't have to change plans, what I'm saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform."
Of course, even if there is no sweeping mandate to use the public "option," the law of gravity still applies-the larger mass shall attract the smaller masses towards it. This is how monopolies are formed, whether state-run or not.
The big lie is that the American people will have any choice at all but to use the public "option," which will be the only option left.
We need to tell Congress not just "no" but "Hell no!" when it comes to their government takeover of the health care system. This will only be defeated when it's completely off the table, and the pressure needs to stay on.
