Lest you think the failure of the government’s healthcare website and likely loss of insurance for up to 129 million people represents the failure of Obamacare, you should remember the original and ultimate goal was “single payer.”  Seen in this light, these “failures” are more accurately seen as politically-charged, but necessary steps toward the complete government takeover of the healthcare industry. 

I think at this point we should define terms and do so carefully.  ”Single Payer” doesn’t mean the insurance companies will be out of business.  Some of them will be out of business, for sure, part of the industry consolidation the large insurance companies were promised, the “Medical Loss Ratio” being the consolidation effort’s best tool.  Remember this was an Obamacare  requirement with which only the largest companies could comply.  I have written about this previously, here.  

“Single Payer” means the government will be the primary health insurance premium collector.  More and more stories are surfacing about people successfully navigating the government’s website, charged only $16 or $20 for their monthly policy premium.  The balance of the actual premium comes, of course from a government subsidy, making the government (taxpayers) the primary source of revenue for this insurance company.  This is, after all, the crony capitalist’s dream, a guaranteed source of revenue regardless of customer preference.  

This “subsidy”money will go to the few remaining insurance companies.  This “insurance” will increasingly mean nothing as the insurance companies will aggressively and successfully secure exemptions for a wide array of diseases and health conditions, exemptions that will protect the company’s assets from these health claims.  

We are already seeing stories about the questionable need for colonoscopies, prostate screenings, mammograms and other preventitive measures, all of which Obamacare has initially required the insurance companies to pay for at 100%….no deductible or co-pay.  Just this last week an AP story reported on a government-funded study recommending non-treatment of lung cancer.  Many of the drugs people take will not be “covered” by the exchange plans.  Seeing a pattern?

The most remarkable deception will soon be revealed on C-SPAN, as insurance company executives will be grilled in congressional circus hearings, playing their pre-planned role as the bad guys responsible for everyone losing their insurance.  They will grovel and beg in fine theatrical fashion for mercy, begging the government to resist a complete “takeover,” a takeover that is all part of the plan and one which will place these same insurance execs amongst the richest men on the planet.

Focusing on the lie, “If you like your plan you can keep it,” misses the big picture lie, I think.  Blaming the insurance companies for so many losing their insurance is naive.  Now that we are saddled with this mess, we should now expect part two, where the media apparatchiks offer the only possible way out:  ”single payer.”

The great miscalculation of the central planners is the good news.  A consumer market is quickly emerging as people realize they can purchase health care (even surgical services) cheaper than they can buy “coverage,” cheaper than their deductible and co-pay many times.  This competitive medical market, the hallmark of which is truth in pricing,  represents the greatest threat to the lie we all know as Obamacare.

G. Keith Smith, M.D.