Healthcare: 7 Reasons the Public Option isn’t “Good Medicine”

It seems one of the most controversial aspects of ObamaCare 2009 is the “Public Option” – the concept that those who have limited access to healthcare or do not have health insurance today could buy into (on a subsidized / sliding scale basis) a Federally controlled plan. The concept seems to have merit at first glance – who wouldn’t want those without access to get it?  Why shouldn’t there be a sliding scale for those who cannot afford healthcare today?   I’ve even heard comments like “the private sector isn’t working so we need a public option.”   I’d like to weigh in with 7 things one should consider before we simply swallow the bait:

1. When was the last time you saw a government run anything that was “more efficient” than the private sector (it’s as rare as a unicorn)
2. If this is so good, why are there such massive problems with Medicare (underfunded and going bankrupt) and Medicaid (originally formed as the social safety net for healthcare)?
3. With this new “low level” benchmark out there as a Public Option – why would any level headed employer continue to offer anything better – why not simply reduce the healthcare benefit we get at the workplace to this Public Option level?
4. As more employers simply drop their private insurance (which are more costly and the plan proposes to tax these “richer benefits” to help pay for the Public Option) – won’t this Public Option swell to huge numbers, creating the 3rd dimension of the USA Healthcare Trinity:  Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare?  And when this happens – without higher taxes and new funding – the benefits (what’s paid for) will shrink.
5. Rationing is a simple reality of such a system – everyone cannot have everything.  This doesn’t mean you can’t have the surgery at 75 or a pacemaker – just that you’d have to pay cash.
6. I’ve already noted that most of the “BEST DOCTORS” in Boston, NYC, LA, Miami are have already stopped taking insurance and only take cash.  I suspect, under the public option – most of the truly best MDs will become cash only options for most of us.  I don’t blame them, I’d skip the whole “Medicare, Medicaid and ObamaCare” trinity and opt for cash as well.
7. If this is such good stuff, why wouldn’t congress adopt this for themselves.  Just as they have created their own “retirement” plan that are extremely fat and rich, they’ve done the same with their healthcare benefits.  This is “good medicine” for the rest of us commoners, but the Feudal Lords and Ladies of Capital Hill would never use this Public Option for themselves.