Reality or Alarmism?

Democratic operatives and mainstream media shills and apologists for the Obama administration's just-passed and enacted medical-care overhaul are now accusing the rank-and-file Republicans and their cronies who oppose the much-touted yet highly-unpopular "reform" and warn people of dire medical and economic consequences of being alarmists. The standard argument now being offered goes like this: "You and your ilk made the same claims about Medicare when it was passed in 1965."

That is quite a hilarious contention, come to think of it. When Medicare was passed and enacted into law, opponents of the program at the time predicted that it result in the state's greater control of the medical system than ever.

Here's a couple of fair questions to people: does anyone now believe that Medicare was such a good idea to create? And while we're at it, does anyone now think that was a horrible prediction at all?

Medicare, as it stands, has an unfunded liability -- that is, empty promises -- of $37 trillion over the next 75 years, the insolvency of the program notwithstanding. To give the devil his due, Obama at least admits that Medicare is a major reason for the federal deficit, which creates the massive national debt. To rectify the problem (namely the out-of-control budget), coverage for a handful of services are being denied. Doctors are now routinely being prompted to stop accepting new Medicare patients, thanks to the insane bureaucratic burden imposed upon them.

All in all, the government medical program has stimulated supply and demand of services, thus propping up prices for everyone across the board by subsidizing medical care for the retirees. Costlier medical care results in costlier medical insurance. Medical insurance companies are soon priced out of the market, thus becoming wiped out of existence after the price of insurance skyrockets. That certainly adds to the number of people who are uninsured. (Although this is not the only factor of inflation, it remains a relatively large one.)

With prices rising higher and the number of uninsured growing larger (all because of the government product known as Medicare), there is no question that all this has energized the government's attempt to increase its power over the medical system.

Now, in the present day, the predictions made about Medicare have come true, not to mention legitimate. It has opened the door for more state intervention in our medical-care choices -- meaning us.

The question that needs to be asked is this: is what we've warned about ObamaCare making us alarmists or talking about reality?