Steve Forbes said it best: “There is nothing that better illustrates the bankruptcy of American politics today.” Of course, he was talking about the abomination that Obamacare has become. The system is collapsing. Private insurance companies are leaving the exchanges by droves, while those who are hanging on are accelerating premium increases at ever-escalating and untenable rates. Clearly, it cannot survive, and there are no more opportunities for the courts to bail it out for a third time; it is a complete market failure. But is anyone who has ever actually run a business surprised by this outcome?
Meanwhile, there is no word from any political candidate at any level about this disaster, including the VA health care system, which is killing veterans on a daily basis. Speaker Paul Ryan has put some very well designed solutions to replace Obamacare on the table, but not one Republican is talking about them, including Donald Trump.
We know that the left has always wanted a government-run health care system. This has been Hillary Clinton’s dream for three decades, and just watch as this end game becomes a reality by default. A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that there could be just one option for health insurance coverage in 31% of U. S. counties in 2017, and only two options in another 31%. The response to this situation from the Democrats is a “public option” to provide competition, but of course we know where this ultimately leads.
As I have previously predicted, in January 2017, no matter who is elected President, the best case is that he or she will inherit a new and untouchable entitlement program distributing premium subsidies to 20 million or so people, having succeeded in nothing else among its original objectives in terms of affordability, availability, or quality of delivery. Worst case: if Hillary Clinton is President, we’re a very small step to a universal single-payer system, her 30+ year dream. Bankruptcy indeed.
