Gop: Obamacare Will Destroy The Best Health Care System The World Has Ever Known

On Sunday, a senior Senate Republican made his case against the Democrats’ plan for a “public option” for health insurance.

He explained that the public option would “be the first steps in… destroying the best health care system the world has ever known.”

There are very good arguments against the health care proposals being advanced by the Democrats.

This is not one of them.  And with only weeks before the full Senate considers a comprehensive health care reform package, such talking points will only undermine the Republicans’ efforts to challenge and improve upon the Democrats’ efforts.

As FF contributor David Gratzer has ably argued in the New Atlantis, the Democrats’ modest sounding public option would in fact deal a fatal blow to the private health insurance most Americans enjoy.

Disincentivize employer-provided group insurance through an employer-mandate and the taxation of benefits.

Establish politically motivated benefit packages with coverage mandates, that along with guaranteed issue and community rating, will drive up the cost of insurance.

And create an individual mandate with generous government subsidies.

It is clear where this will wind up.  With nowhere else to turn and no serious proposals for “bending the growth curve,” American taxpayers will be on the hook for another growing entitlement that will be paid for either by tax increases or government rationing of care.

Not a pretty picture.

But one way to guarantee that we wind up with a triumphant signing ceremony for comprehensive health care reform is to argue that America has the best health care system on earth.

While certainly decent compared to the alternatives, objectively speaking our health care system is a mess.  The government subsidizes the care of the elderly by stiffing doctors, who then pass along those costs to the privately insured.  In a post-industrial national economy, individual insurance decisions are subject to the regulations of 50 state insurance commissioners, undermining portability.  The government provides massive and regressive subsidies to employer-provided coverage, while providing practically meaningless tax breaks to those who seek care in the individual marketplace.

In other words, the system is pretty lousy and needs work.  Conservatives helped to make this case, first in the think tanks, then in President Bush’s proposal for health care reform, and finally during Senator McCain’s campaign.

It may be that the vast majority of Americans with private health insurance are satisfied with their coverage.  But they certainly worry, particularly in this economy, about a health insurance system that largely ties your opportunity for coverage to your employment. And they understand that their share of coverage is consuming an ever larger portion of their income.

In other words, they might be satisfied with the system, but they aren’t ecstatic about it.

They might have real concerns about who will wind up holding the bag for the Democrats’ reform.  But there is no special place in their heart for America’s insurers and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

And if Republicans’ opening shot is that the Democrats’ plan will undermine the greatest health care system on earth, Rahm Emanuel is somewhere smiling.