Money & Politics
- Zero China Growth Is ‘Probable’: Gordon Chang
- With Greece Nearing Euro Exit, Is Cash King?
- Euro Zone Battle Hinges On Greece’s Banks: Steil
- Will Congress Forge Budget Deal, Avoid ‘Fiscal Cliff’?
- Bob Lutz: Auto Bailout Was ‘Right Thing to Do’
- Will European Woes Trigger QE3, Death of Euro?
- Battle Over Congressional Budget Heats Up
- Extend the Bush Tax Cuts Now
- Sen. Coburn: There Will Be a Budget Deal
- Paul Ryan Blames Democrats for Debt Woes
SHOW TIMES
Weeknights 7p ET
CNBC Asia:
Saturday 07:00 SIN/HK
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Public Pensions Faulted for Bets on Rosy Returns
- Greece to Leave Euro Zone on June 18: Wealth Manager
- Banks Recapitalization Is a 'Necessary Evil': Strategist
- Winemaking Lures the Wealthy, But Not With Profits
- Italy 2-Year Borrowing Costs at Peak Since December
- Euro Rallies as Greece's Pro-Bailout Parties Gain Favor
- European Firms Plan for Greek Unrest and Euro Exit
- Will the Euro Misery Give Rise to Another Soros?
- Olive Oil Price Dip Adds to European Woes
- Europe’s Stronger Powers Must Reveal Plans: Ex-BoE Official
CONTACT US
We want to hear from you!
E-mail:
We Don’t Need Obama’s Big-Bang Health-Care Plan
Anchor
It looks like President Obama’s big-bang health-care reform is going down to defeat. This is good.
But my question is why do we need it at all?
According to a recent ABC News/USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 89 percent of Americans are satisfied with their health care. That could mean up to 250 million people are happy. So why is it that we need Obama’s big-bang health-care overhaul in the first place?
There’s more. According the U.S. Census Bureau, we don’t have 47 million folks who are truly uninsured. When you take college kids plus those earning $75,000 or more who chose not to sign up, that removes roughly 20 million people. Then take out about 10 million more who are not U.S. citizens, and 11 million who are eligible for SCHIP and Medicaid but have not signed up for some reason.
So that really leaves only 10 million to 15 million people who are truly long-term uninsured.
Yes, they need help. And yes, I would like to give it to them. But not with mandatory coverage, or new government-backed insurance plans, or massive tax increases. And certainly not with the Canadian-European-style nationalization that has always been the true goal of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats.
Instead, we can give the truly uninsured vouchers or debit cards that will allow for choice and coverage, and even health savings accounts for retirement wealth. According to expert Betsy McCaughey, instead of several trillion dollars and socialized medicine, this voucher approach would cost only about $25 billion a year.
But the Democratic agenda has never really been about just the uninsured. And it certainly hasn’t been about real cost-cutting or true market choice and competition. Nor has it been about tort/trial-lawyer reform. Instead, the Democratic agenda has always been a class-warfare, anti-business attack on private-sector doctors, hospitals, insurance firms, and drug companies. It’s all about control, knocking down their profits, and telling them what to do.
Because government planners know best, right? Wrong. Absolutely wrong.
Great Slideshows On CNBC.com Including:
- The World's Biggest Debtor Nations
- The Biggest Holders of US Government Debt
- A History of Government Spending
Questions? Comments, send your emails to:
- Critical elections are scheduled for Greece in June. Here are some of the players and their roles.
- Our financial system is still not designed to meet the needs of poor families, says this author.
- Statistics show there aren’t many women billionaires compared to their male counterparts. Why?
- Click to see various forms of funding and what entrepreneurs have used to build successful companies.
- Here are some of the most expensive hotels in the world to book. And we mean expen$$ive.
- Always drink responsibly and when you do, try one of these more unusual and tasty drinks. Cheers!









