BrianGarst.com

The White House mantra is all about “choice and competition.”  As I noted two months ago, the chosen strategy of the left on health care is to fraudulent adopt the language of freedom, while advancing a plan of control and restrictions.  Robert Gibbs says that the White House has the “goal of fostering choice and competition in a private health insurance market.” He even uttered the chosen words once every 8.7 seconds in a recent CNN interview.

No Choice

If you want choice, don’t expect any in this plan.  Want to purchase insurance that only includes coverage for care that you might actually need?  Too bad! Excessive government mandates won’t allow for plans tailored to your specific needs.  Want to forgo insurance and pay out of pocket? Too bad! An individual mandate prohibits that choice.  Want to get the same amount of money from your employer and purchase HSA accounts instead? Too bad! Government tax distortions make a dollar spent on your health care by your employer worth more than a dollar spent by yourself.

No Competition

If you want to see greater competition in health insurance, don’t expect to get it from this plan.  Want insurers to compete across state lines to offer the best plans possible? Too bad! State protectionism often makes this impossible.  Want a robust system where companies can offer different models? Too bad! Guaranteed issue and community rating rules in many states prevent companies from offering competing plans, or prices them right out of the market altogether.

Real competition and real choice is possible.  The way to get it is not through bigger government and more regulation, but by removing those barriers that government already has in place.  This plan does the opposite.  It is anti-choice and anti-competition.  Anyone who tells you otherwise thinks you are a sucker.