Health Care Update

Max Baucus is trying hard to deliver health care reform, but in the end, I fear it may just be too big a job for him. John McCain's idea to tax health benefits as regular income (then provide a tax credit so that individuals could purchase their own health insurance) always struck me as a good way to break the relationship between work and health care while providing an impetus for increased competition and market force leverage on cost. It seems that Baucus is looking at McCain's idea....sort of. Instead of looking at medical benefits as compensation for EVERYONE, Baucus appears to be looking at taxing only the big, premium plans...you know, the ones held by the "rich" folks who don't pay their share (and nowhere do I hear of an accompanying tax credit, leading me to believe this is simply a way to raise revenue--not reform the system). Baucus' idea will raise less than half the money Obama needs for his government takeover of healthcare, so brilliant ideas like taxing sugary drinks and higher taxes on alcohol are now on the table. This is silly.

Conservatives need to stand and fight on healthcare, but not simply say "no" to the ideas that the Democrats are bringing forward. We need to coalesce around a series of ideas, and I would suggest Representative Paul Ryan's (R-WI) plan would be a good place to start. Built around McCain's plan, Ryan's will help drive costs down by inserting market forces into health care (pooling, individual choice, purchase of plans across state lines). Conservatives need to frame this debate in terms of liberty and choice, that the Democratic plan is the road to fewer choices (and fewer jobs) as employers will increasingly look to shed health care as a benefit if Uncle Sugar is there to hand out a chit. This is serious stuff, and the movement needs to mobilize...not "against" Obama, but for real reform.