Health Care Reform Coming Down to the Wire

Michael D. Tanner

President Obama and the Democratic congressional leaders are pushing hard to finish and vote on legislation that will effectively lead to a government takeover of the health care system.

Health care reform is needed. However, reforms that increase the role of government and an already massive federal budget deficit – as many proposals would – are bad medicine. The Cato Institute is undertaking nationwide outreach on how free-market reforms increase consumer choice and improve health care's quality and affordability.

The Cato Institute is running ads in major newspapers and on radio stations nationwide to inform the public that health care reform is necessary – but only the right kind of reform. These ads aren't cheap, so please consider making a contribution to support Cato's health care reform efforts.

As part of the campaign, Cato health care analysts are working to dispel myths about health care reform. Writing in the New York Post, Cato senior fellow Michael D. Tanner outlines the three big lies of Obamacare:

1 "If you like your current health-care plan, you can keep it."

"In the end, millions of Americans would be forced out of the insurance they have today and into the government plan. Businesses, in particular, would have every incentive to dump their workers into the public plan. The actuarial firm the Lewin Group estimates that as many as 118.5 million people, roughly two-thirds of those with insurance today, would be shifted from private to public coverage."

2 "You will pay less."

The Congressional Budget Office has made it clear that the reform plans now being debated will increase overall health-care costs. … The final health-care bill is expected to cost more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. That means much higher taxes, and not just for the wealthy."

3 "Quality will improve."

"Anyone who thinks a government takeover of the health-care system will improve quality of care has only to look at the health-care programs the government already runs: The Veterans Administration is overwhelmed with problems, Medicaid is notorious for providing poor quality at a high cost — and Medicare has huge gaps in coverage."