OPINION:
The Senate has turned full-force toward repeal, replace, reform, what have you of Obamacare.
And while admitting the way is tough-going, Republicans by and large say: The premiums, and their potential to shred the family finances of households across America, are core to concerns.
Well, that is a core concern. But what’s an even bigger concern is the fact that all these discussions signify one thing, and one overlooked thing only: The free market, on America’s health care, has gone the way of the dodo bird.
“The biggest most notable damage is these skyrocketing premiums,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, CNN reported.
Notice what he didn’t say — that the biggest most notable damage from Obamacare is the fact that it set the government securely in place in America’s health care system.
But even on that — the skyrocketing premiums front — the Senate seems a bit flummoxed about what to do,
Look at these quotes, the first, from Johnson, as CNN noted: “I’m still on the kind of 30,000 foot-level in terms of what are the primary goals of our efforts here.”
And this, from Sen. John Cornyn: “We haven’t made any decisions. We’re just batting around ideas.”
And this, from Sen. Ted Cruz: “This is not going to be easy.”
These are not comforting statements — hardly the sort of rhetoric Americans who voted based on a hatred of Obamacare would like to hear.
In early May, Cornyn told reporters that the Senate was going to be “going through the issues methodically,” scrutinizing funding for Medicaid and trying to cut costs while lowering premiums. But part and parcel of all the discussion is this underlying truth: the reform-repeal-replace campaign still allows for government-run healthcare.
And that right there is the elephant in the room. So long as the government takes the lead on deciding Americans’ health insurance plans, it’s Americans who are out of luck. It’s the Constitution that’ll stand corrupted, the free market that’ll feel the pinch — the individual who’ll lose the freedom.
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