The Freedom Project

The Freedom Project

We thought we'd put together a handy guide for the President's prime time health care infomercial, helping viewers sift through the rhetoric and get to the bottom of the costly government takeover proposed by Democrats. Below are several key points about a government takeover of health care and its impact on families and small businesses. (and remember, Republicans have a better health care solution – learn more here)

A government takeover of health care will drive up health care costs.

• The President says we need to "stay focused on driving down costs" and "control the spiraling cost of health care in America."
• But the Washington Post reported that a government takeover of health care could lead to "higher costs for insurers, employers, and people with private medical coverage." And editorial page editor Fred Hiatt says the Congressional Democrats writing the legislation "are far more passionate about universal coverage than about controlling costs."
• An article on CNNMoney.com argues that the only way finance this massive government takeover "will be huge tax increases, especially on the same middle class that's being wooed as the chief beneficiary of reform."
• And the Wall Street Journal says "all costs will climb even higher as people use far more ‘free' care and federal spending will reach epic levels."

Millions of Americans will lose their current health care coverage.

• The President says that after a government takeover of health care, "If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan."
• But according to the Associated Press, the White House says "the president's rhetoric shouldn't be taken literally."
• And when asked to clarify his pledge, the President backtracked.
• According to The Atlantic, "the CBO believes that the plan would kick about 15 million people out of the system because their employers would no longer offer insurance, and coverage from other sources would decline by 8 million."

Millions of Americans will no longer be able to choose their doctor.

• The President says that after a government takeover of health care, "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor."
  
  
• But many doctors won't want the hassle of dealing with government rates and bureaucracy. In Michigan, for example, the Associated Press reports that "fewer doctors are treating or accepting new patients" insured by a government-run program because "the state-set reimbursement rates are already too low, in some cases covering only one-third of the actual costs of patient visits."
  
  
• Dr. Scott Gottlieb – a former official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – says "more doctors will close their practices to new patients."

The government plan will be the only plan.

• The President says he wants "some competition. If the private insurance companies have to compete with a public option, it'll keep them honest and it'll help keep their prices down."
  
  
• But a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania writes in the Wall Street Journal that it is "impossible" for private plans to compete with a taxpayer-funded plan, and that any "public plan would inexorably crowd out private plans, leading to a single-payer system."
  
  
• A top Democrat, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), openly admitted that "a public option will put the private insurance industry out of business."
  
  
• And the Washington Post argues that "the experience of competing plans in the Medicare prescription drug arena suggests that a government-run option is not essential to energize a competitive system that has turned out to cost less than expected."

A government takeover will lead to longer waits, lower quality, and rationed care.

• A Canadian physician, Dr. David Gratzer, says that "[t]o limit the growth in health spending, governments restrict the supply of health care by rationing it through waiting."
  
  
• Dr. Scott Gottlieb also says a government takeover of health care will cause doctors to "ram more patients into tight schedules to make up in volume what's lost in margin. Visits will be shortened and new appointments harder to secure."
  
  
• And Sally Pipes, president of the Pacific Research Institute, says that government bureaucrats will "drive down costs by limiting the availability of drugs and medical treatments and rationing care."

A government takeover of health care will destroy millions of American jobs.

• Bloomberg reports that Democrats may require some employers to pay a new tax "equal to 8 percent of their payrolls" to help finance a government takeover of health care.
  
  
• Using methodology developed by the White House's top economic advisors, this tax increase would result in 4.7 million Americans losing their job.

AND REMEMBER, Republicans have a better health care solution that will "reduce costs, expand access, and increase the quality of care in a way that Americans can afford." Instead of a "government takeover of health care," Republicans have laid out a health care solution that "keeps patients and doctors in charge of key medical decisions." An outline of the GOP health care plan can be found in PDF format here, or you can visit healthcare.gopleader.gov.

READ MORE:

• Boehner Underscores Importance of Creating New Jobs, Not Growing Government (6/22/09)
• GOP Unveils Plan to Reduce Costs, Expand Access to Affordable Health Care (6/17/09)
• Boehner Op-Ed: GOP Health Care Reform Will "Reduce Costs for Families and Small Businesses" (6/17/09)
• Boehner Talks Jobs and Health Care on Good Morning America (6/17/09)
• Boehner: GOP Wants to "Make Sure That All Americans Have Access to High Quality, Affordable Health Insurance" (6/16/09)
• CBO: Dem Health Plan Will Cost At Least $1 Trillion, Leave Millions Uninsured (6/16/09)
• Gov-Run Health Care Will "Crowd Out Private Plans," "Won't Suppress Spending" (6/15/09)
• Boehner Vows to Fight Government Takeover of Health Care (6/12/09)
• Dems Consider Fudging the Numbers for Health Care Takeover (6/12/09)
• Dems' Health Care Takeover Could Explode Costs, Restrict Patient Choice (6/11/09)
• Boehner: Dems "Will Make Health Care More Expensive," "Limit Treatments" (6/9/09)
• Republicans Outline Common Ground, Non-Starters on Health Care Reform (5/14/09)
• Boehner: Government-Run Health Care Means Long Waits, Limited Choices (5/13/09)
• Top Democrat Admits Government-Run Health Plan Will Kill Private Health Care (5/1/09)