The Reality Check

It's the typical political ecology of the world. People and institutions act based primarily upon self-interest. Those who don't, don't survive. Health care reform is no different. What is the motivation of the Obama administration to for health care reform? Can't say for sure. It's very likely that health care reform is indeed something he cares about personally, but that care is well serving his interests with the liberal power brokers of the world.

It goes without saying that the health insurance companies have their own self-interest at heart in the whole health care reform debate. What we shouldn't do however is assume that their self-interest is bad for the rest of us. Competition from a public option might whip them into shape, but at what costs? If the government wastes more money than it saves on health care prices at a whole, than we've all lost with us going deeper into debt. For example, a public option might cause a $500 plan to go down to $400 in the health insurance market. That's great, until you look at the numbers and you realize that the government had to spend $200 to save you that $100. What does that mean? For you to save $100 on your health insurance, the government went into debt $200. That's just a grassroots picture of what might and will probably happen with a public option in health care reform. In fact, this example might be conservative in what may actually happen. The government might end up spending $300 tax-payer dollars for $50 of savings on overall health insurance prices. That is the more likely scenario in a health care reform plan that includes a public option. It's yet to be determined if that will be the case once it's all said and done and a bill finally passes in both houses and signed by President Obama, but we'll see. Here's a reality check: saving on health insurance will probably cost us greatly.