The Senate Finance Committee today wisely rejected the so-called public option as it marks up its health care reform measure. The 15-8 vote included five Democrats saying no.
Wise move. Every state that’s implemented a public health plan is now going broke after first proclaiming it would save costs and then having to throw money into the system at twice what was budgeted.
The latest example comes from North Carolina, where its Public Health Plan for state employees and teachers has seen claims skyrocket threefold since inception to where they now amount to half the state’s entire budget, coming in at a whopping $10.7 billion in 2008.
The state, as is being discussed and touted in D.C. during the health care debate, also pinned its hopes on wellness management–getting people to quit smoking and lose weight–as a means to hold health care costs in check.
That didn’t work either and actually ended up adding many millions more onto the state’s health care tab as providers gamely gamed the wellness system.
The state isn’t giving up, though. Now it’s requiring people on the State Health Plan to sign a form attesting that they don’t smoke and that their BMI (Body Mass Index) is less than 40 (which is being reduced soon to 35) in order to get the better, cheaper, 80/20 health care plan. If you’re a fatso or you smoke, you’re forced onto the 70/30, where you pay 30 percent of all medical bills.
Now comes the Big Brother part. Since people were routinely lying on their forms, employers are now required to check for smoker’s breath and to weigh employees to determine their BMI. If you’re found out, you’ll be forced onto the 70/30 plan and made to forfeit all your deductions under the 80/20 plan.
And most Americans favor health reform, according to Obama and the Democrats. Either they’re lying, we’re naive, or someone is making all this up.
Read "Your employer will weigh you now" for the nitty-gritty details of health reform gone wild.
