Medicare is a government success

At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Rep. Bob Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.” The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program — but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, “wasn’t having any of it.”
-- PAUL KRUGMAN, New York Times

This story sounds almost too ridiculous to believe.

The idea that someone covered by Medicare wouldn't know that it was a government program and that he didn't want those bureaucrats in Washington to get involved in it, well, it shows us one thing.

What's that?

It shows us that largely because of all the demagoguery that's being used on this issue, government isn't getting credit for a job it does much better than any of the private insurance companies.

Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, points out that the only reason as many people are insured as there are now is because of government subsidies -- tax breaks for employers offering coverage. Part of the deal is that to get the tax breaks, everyone has to be offered coverage, not just the ones who are young and healthy.

That's the problem with not having a public option in the current reform effort. If private companies are all there is, then people who are old, unhealthy or have pre-existing conditions won't be able to get coverage.

That's the biggest obstacle to reform. If we can't cover everybody, we come up short.