Changing the argument

Over the weekend the Administration first caved on the "death panels" - that evidence of nanny statism that made absolutely no sense except to a bean counting bureaucrat. The idea of counseling for people in the last few years of life was put forward without a lot of hard evidence that those people do not already know a lot about options they have available. Next the Administration seems to have backed off the "public" option - which most rational observers thought was an attempt to move an even larger portion of our healthcare system under direct government control. One wonders what they will come up with next.

They could think a lot more creatively about alternative organizational frameworks that might actually lower costs. Senator Conrad's idea about co-ops might offer some options although I personally would prefer to have a lot more conscientious thought about taking this away from an employer mandate and giving consumers a lot more control of the system. A co-op might come out to be an option like charter schools which offer a wider range of possibilities without taking away the role of the government in at least being a mediator. If it is a good idea why not extend it to Medicare and the VA and really save some money?