I am not an economist, in college I was so adept at statistics the professor saw to it that I took the course twice, but I do know that if something is free, somebody somewhere is paying for it.  I do know that if you buy something with borrowed money you have to repay it or suffer the consequences and I know that if you take from one place to give to another there is somebody who comes out on the short end of the stick.  Therefore, I apparently know a great deal more than members of the Congress of the United States. 

Trust me, you are going to save money and we are going to stick it to the insurance companies

A new multi-state study by Wellpoint (yes, I know they are an insurance company) demonstrates what many of us have been saying (using only common sense), and that is that for people who have health insurance now, the cost of that coverage will go up, in some cases significantly, under the planned health care reform.  That is because of mandates, new underwriting standards and age based premiums, etc.  Perhaps that is the price to pay for reform, but let’s tell people the truth. 

Also, buried within the reform legislation is an expansion of Medicaid, the state-run health insurance for low income Americans.  What you don’t hear is that much of the financial burden for expanding Medicaid falls on the states many of which are already struggling with budget deficits, but in any case more state obligations must mean higher taxes for citizens and or higher deficits or cuts in other programs. 

Hard choices are surely required in any reform effort, but at least tell people the full story.  The simple fact of course is that politicians don’t trust the public with the truth.  In private some staffers in Congress will tell you that.  I have to admit that listening to some individuals’ view of health care and health care costs, politicians may have a point.  None the less, this is a big, big deal and we need to let people know what they are in for, those with health insurance and those without.

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