Losing the Real Health Care Debate
Published on
December 17, 2009
By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The fractious, divided nature of the Democrats' majority in Congress continues to extend the health care debate - and excite the press, who are enthralled by every "11th hour" compromise. Still, Democrats’ internal squabble over the public option will cause them to miss their fourth (or is it fifth?) artificial deadline this year. It also provides a convenient distraction from the real story: poll after poll shows that, in the court of public opinion, Democrats have lost the debate – and lost badly.
True, 63 percent of the public still believes that the health care system needs major changes or a complete overhaul according to George Washington University’s Battleground poll. But 64 percent think that Obamacare does not address their priorities, the largest of which is the cost of health care.
It’s no surprise that no one outside the Beltway is drinking the health care Kool-Aid. Democrats’ bills are riddled with contradictions and fiscal gimmicks – and the more the public learns about the legislation, the less they like it.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the legislation’s Medicare provisions. For weeks, it has become increasingly clear that if Democrats actually follow through on their plans to cut $400 billion from health care support for the elderly, seniors will see sharp cuts in their benefits and reduced access to doctors and hospitals.
This is unlikely. But if Democrats cave to the pressures to keep up entitlement spending and simply further raise taxes to pay for subsidies for the uninsured, they’ll rob future generations of their dollars, economic vitality and hope for a more prosperous future.
The "doc fix" is a real-time example. Under both the House and Senate legislation, Medicare physician reimbursements are slated for a hit of over 20 percent starting in 2011. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have both advanced over $200 billion in new spending to rescind the cuts, blowing a hole in the budget along the way.
Democrats seem to believe nobody will notice. But the key constituency – those 55 and older – is watching closely. According to a survey released Friday by Resurgent Republic, fully 81 percent oppose the cuts to Medicare in the health legislation, which is the heart of the supposed funding mechanism. And 68 percent expect health care reform to increase the bloated deficit.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin is former director of the Congressional Budget Office and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute