What the Democrats lack in governance, they make up in sophistry. The issue of Medicare and Government takeover is just one example. They sneer at the apparent hypocrisy of Republicans who have taken on the role of opposing cuts in Medicare. “If you are against Government takeover, why are you supporting a government program like Medicare or even Medicaid? Similarly, the Democrats chide the elderly for opposing government takeover while insisting on retaining their own government health program.
Given an option, the Republicans are inclined to offer choice and private services to the elderly. The Medicare Advantage program was launched for precisely that reason. And the Democrats are viscerally opposed to Medicare Advantage. Better still, the Republicans would be inclined to simply offer vouchers to low income or retired folks which they can use to pay for privately delivered services.
The Medicare program has already been paid for by the elderly—it is now their turn to benefit from the investments they have already committed. That the Democrats are now considering the reallocation of funds from Medicare to their universal care experiments is only confirmation that the government cannot be trusted to comply with social contracts. When public finances are mismanaged, governments will be inclined to raid cash hordes.
The rationale for Medicare and Medicaid or for children’s programs for healthcare was not that Government provision of health is generally better than private delivery. Instead, the premise was that private markets fail to function when the elderly, the low income folks and children don’t have the purchasing power to buy health care.
With advances in knowledge about the health care business, its time to look at alternatives. The elderly can take care of their health needs if they are able to save money in their health care accounts over their working life. The poor and children of low-income households can pay for their health care with vouchers.
The Democrats are looking to make cuts somewhere to pay for universal access because they refuse to institute incentives which will help to cut costs. Resources are scarce and increasing demand for health care can only be fulfilled by supply side reforms including competition in the health care industry. The Democratic program cannot possibly increase access so they will only redistribute resources from one group to another without improving the overall system.
