I was flipping through the channels today, and I saw a "Mentalist" on the Today Show bending spoons. I had to smirk, as it seems like Uri Geller's old routine is still worthy of show business. For those of you unaware of Uri or those of you, who actually believed he had psychic powers, it was and still is a trick. Before the trick ever happened, Uri had already bent the medal of a key or spoon to an angle, and presented the object at a visual angle, which hid the bend from the viewers sight. Slowly he would reveal the bend over the course of the trick. This created the illusion of bending.
It crossed my mind that we are seeing the same thing with the upcoming health care legislation. Follow me below the fold, if you want me to reveal the trick.
We are in the preparation phase of this trick right now. The illusionists in politics are framing the debate in such a way to conceal the trick behind this all. In reality there is nothing new being worked out. For several decades the pros and cons have been weighed of every conceivable reform option. All of the players have been in on this for years. The props were placed in advance, and the volunteers from the audience are in on the trick. Those not in the know have already been removed from the stage.
A several billion dollar a year industry isn't going to let their golden goose fly away. Think about the language we are hearing, and try not to get distracted by the slight of hand. When you heard that bit about reducing health care cost, are you sure you heard it right? Did they tell you health care would be cheaper, or did they tell you that they would reduce the level of inflation of health care? Those are two different things entirely.
For any magic trick to work there has to be some level of misdirection. In this case you need some kind of debate to make this look like it is a real accomplishment. The logical debate would be between single payer (everyone gets health care through the government) and continuing with private insurance. But remember this trick is rigged. One side of the debate must be hung by wires for the trick to work. So instead of saying single payer, we get a new flashy term called a "public option". In other words you get a system where you can buy private insurance or you can buy medicare. Either way you will be buying something.
So what is the answer to 47 million Americans without health insurance? Make them buy it anyway. In return for forcing more people into the pool, the cost will be distributed over more people. This means over the course of ten years, the overall cost of providing coverage for an individual or group policy holder will go down, while the industry sees the same overall revenues.
But what about that public option thingy. Well that is a trick in itself. The costs of medicare are staggering. The main reason is because only old people are on medicare. They get it for free, and use medical services at the highest rate of any demographic. So if we instead had younger people paying for the same coverage, but using it at statistically lower rates, we offset the cost.
The great thing about this public option is it acts as the illusion. On stage the Democrats and Republicans can appear to fight tooth and nail over the inclusion of a public option, and both can appease their bases. It will appear a victory for the Democrats in the majority, and a hard fought battle for Republicans in the minority.
Remember the single payer crowd was already escorted off stage. Insurance companies will see a huge increase in customers, the doctors will see more patients with increased coverage, the pharmaceutical companies will see more prescriptions filled and the government will see the cost of entitlements offset. No one is promising you cheaper health care, only more affordable health care. Cheaper means less, affordable is subjective. They are only saying that your health care costs won't be raised as quickly as they have been.
TA-DA!!!