ConciergePhysicians

Health Care 2009
July 7, 2008

Washington is caught up in another one of its health-care spending burlesques, and liberals are belting out their favorite tunes. The GOP wants to “wipe out Medicare as we know it,” sings Harry Reid. “The Bush Administration is perfectly happy to have billions of dollars going to insurance companies instead of Medicare beneficiaries,” croons Pete Stark.Republicans should be flogging themselves – for falling into this political trap. Doubly so because the theatrics are a preview of the health-care market if Democrats control both Congress and the White House. If John McCain needs another health-care red alert, here it is.The fight over doctor fees is merely an appetizer for such a system, where competing interest groups would clash for their share of the spending pie. Highly politicized Medicare-like price controls on providers and services would spread to every health decision. The result would be rationing and declines in quality of care….The GOP is losing the Advantage fight because Democrats are pitting physicians against the insurance industry, which is about as popular as Big Oil. The Bush Administration has imposed a regulatory freeze that will give Congress three days to work out a new reprieve for doctors when it returns from recess today. But the fuse will still be burning – and Republicans will continue to lose if they don’t get behind a reform alternative.

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