Pelosi Wants Government Run Health-Care Plan This Year

Get ready for government involvement in your daily life. As promised (or warned, depending on your views), Democrats on the Hill are looking to fast-track Obama’s call for a nationalized, government run health-care system:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House this year will consider health-care legislation including an option for a government-run program that would compete with insurers.

“This is a big agenda, and I believe it should have a public option in it for it to be really substantial,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference in the U.S. Capitol.

Aetna CEO Ronald Williams explained to a Senate panel this week that their industry already pays an estimated $89 billion a year to cover the difference for government run plans. Since Obama is offering a $634 billion fund for 10 years of additional government plans it’s easy to see the shortcomings in the math there. It would be likely to then expect the private industry to pass those costs along to holders of private health insurance plans.

Knowing that their rushed plans would be met with resistance, even amongst their own party, some Democrats have proposed using “reconciliation” tactics to short-circuit the normal voting requirements:

A draft of the House tax-and-spending blueprint calls for using “reconciliation” procedures, a maneuver that would allow a health-care overhaul to move through the Senate with a requirement for a simple majority of 51 votes. Under normal Senate debate rules, 60 votes are needed to keep opponents from blocking legislation.

Senate Democrats didn’t include such fast-track language in their version of the budget resolution. Some Senate Democrats join Republicans in rejecting the reconciliation tactic.

RedState reports on the dangers of reliving the failed history of government run health-care plans.

Source: Bloomberg

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