The False Advertising For A Public Health Care Option

I happened to see an ad for public option health care yesterday. The ad in question made use of alleged "facts" that were calculated to prove the wisdom of a public option, i.e., government-run health care.

Among the things I recall about the ad were that it alleged that one insurance company controlled more than 90% of some measure of insurance, though it didn't mention what that measure was. There were similar statistics cited, without sources, to suggest that there is no competition in the health insurance sector.

Here are two other pro-public option ads you can find on YouTube.



I found it notable that this first video only engaged in ad hominem attacks. That is, the health insurance CEO is bad simply because he lives in a large house and is paid a large salary. There's no mention of his background, how long he worked to attain that position, or how well, or poorly, he has done for his shareholders.

We know nothing about the family that lost their home, allegedly due to health-related expenses. We don't know if the home was too expensive for their budget, or what their lifestyle was, and how it may have contributed to their medical expense woes.

In short, there are no contexts for either emotional appeal.



This video is just a farce. I guess the intent is to suggest that insurance companies can change policy rules on a whim. I don't think that's at all true. In fact, my guess is that, being subject to state regulations, they probably have to appear before a state insurance commission with rate increase requests.

However, for some states, like mine, New Jersey, there are so many mandates and such an inhospitable health insurance climate, that the best, cheapest plans allowing the buyer to tailor the policy for her/himself, won't do business there. Instead, we are hostage to what is, admittedly, a non-market in health insurance, in which rate increases are simply dictated.

But that's a consequence of political actions by state legislatures, not the insurance companies. I know for a fact that health insurance coverage is about half as expensive just sixty miles west of me, across the Delaware river, in Pennsylvania.

What public option proponents don't discuss is any of the following:

-Most situations of a lack of competition in health insurance were constructed by politicians.
-Industry concentration is a common occurrence in most multi-state industries.
-Insurance companies are, for the most part, publicly-owned. Thus, so-called excess profits for insurance companies are, in fact, good for their shareholders, who could be American voters and taxpayers, should they so choose to buy the equities of those insurance companies.
-Comparing US health care spending to that of other countries makes no allowance for more innovative treatments and drugs used in the US. Nor does it address whether it is good, or bad, to spend more on something like health care. Perhaps more spending denotes better outcomes, longer lifespans and higher satisfaction with outcomes.
-Comparing foreign country health care costs with those of the US, without mentioning different tort lawsuit environments, is a gross misrepresentation of the true situation. Much US health care expense is engendered in defense of unregulated tort lawsuits for damages beyond simple medical malpractice.

In short, the public option proponents grossly distort, limit and hide the context of their so-called "evidence" against a health insurance market devoid of government-run providers, but allowing inter-state competition without mandated coverages in policies.

Such a situation would, in fact, allow for the most competition, with no tax-free, hidden-cost government 'competitor' undercutting actual costs, and driving private insurers from the marketplace.

If insurance companies were allowed to easily sell policies across state lines, without the needless complexity of conforming with 50 state insurance commissions policies,' and state-created mandates were eliminated, health insurance policy costs would drop immediately.

Add tort reform, and US health care costs for the same excellent level of care would fall even further.

The simple truth is that today's health insurance market is what it is as a consequence of many state legislatures, and the federal government, through Medicare and Medicaid, not through the design of the insurance industry.