Dems say you can keep your coverage supplied by immoral villains, for now

Scott Gottlieb:

PRESIDENT Obama and his allies are shifting their health-reform rhetoric into an attack on the insurance industry -- but their goal remains universal government health coverage.

Speaking on Capitol Hill two weeks ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called America's health-insurance companies "immoral."

"They are the villains in this," she said, referring to the industry's role on health-care reform. "They have been part of the problem in a major way."

That broadside was foreshadowed by a subtler Obama shift during his July 22 press conference, when he repeatedly referred to his health-care plan as "insurance reform." Gone was his usual pitch about the need to cover America's uninsured.

The president hit the same theme yesterday at a town-hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH, telling the audience "right now we have a health-insurance system that works better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people."

The new language suggests a clear shift in strategy: When Congress returns, expect the White House and Democratic leaders to recast health reform as "consumer protection from insurance companies" rather than "providing coverage for America's uninsured."

But the new "marketing strategy" is a pitch for the same final product -- a single, government-run insurance program.

Reportedly, Obama's top advisers gather every Wednesday night to discuss the latest polling on health-care reform and how to use the results to advance the president's agenda. And public sentiment is clear: People trust their doctors and are generally pleased with their medical care's quality -- but mostly distrust insurers. Most voters also care more about their own out-of-pocket medical costs and the portability of their coverage than about the uninsured.

Surprise: The White House is said to be busy this month crafting its own draft on health-care reform -- with an emphasis on regulation of insurers designed to tap into consumer distrust and discontent with existing coverage.

Having chosen insurers as its designated villains, how will the administration craft a plan that "just happens" to wind up producing a form of nationalized health care?

Simple: Call for supplanting state regulation of existing insurance plans in favor of federal regulation -- which will extend even to the employer-provided coverage that's now free from most regulation.

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There plan is to bankrupt the insurance companies by requiring coverage for everyone regardless of lifestyle or preexisting conditions at the same price has those who are healthy. This will allow them to achieve their objective of having the governemnt as a single payer system. It will also allow them to set up panels to decide the value of certain treatments and those who will receive them. In otherwords once they deatroy the existing system they will set up their own rationing plan that will decided what treatments are worth it for what patients. They clearly do not want to call these "death panels" as you can judge by their reaction to Sarah Palin's comments, but they do a good imitation of one.