In the latest issue of the Weekly Standard, I have a new piece on ObamaCare, coauthored with my New Atlantis and EPPC colleague Yuval Levin. We first point out the general failings of the president’s plan:
But the Obama plan, whatever its tactical cleverness, will suffer from the key drawbacks of all government-financed and managed health insurance. It would make the government the gatekeeper—the controller of prices and the provider of coverage. Health care decisions would increasingly be made in Washington and subject to political pressures that take into account neither patient needs nor economic realities. The cost of the program would be such that the effort to pay for it would become the central concern of American politics—rendering essentially untenable any effort to roll back government spending or reform federal tax law. As we see around the world, health care is the key to public enmeshment in ballooning welfare states, and passage of ObamaCare would deal a heavy blow to the conservative enterprise in American politics.
We then discuss aspects of the plan in a little more detail, including how it will displace many millions of Americans who are currently happy with their health insurance arrangements, as well as the immense costs for the government. And speaking of the price tag, Yuval has a Corner post today pointing out that the administration’s announcement that it has found a way, working with interest groups, to save trillions is not to be taken seriously, to say the least.
UPDATE: Another very good post on today’s news can be found here, this one by Keith Hennessy.