Result of the Health Care Bill: My Opinion, Part 2

The alternative to the 1st possibility I outlined in my last blog is that many people will be disenchanted with the new health care deal; and they will revolt. Already we are seeing that companies that insure their employees are revising their health care contracts, preparing for new expenses. It is reported in the Wall Street Journal today that drug companies are raising drug prices 10%--the largest hike in years. The drug companies are anticipating increasing costs mandated by the new bill.

These tendencies give more fodder to Republicans who want to win in November; and if voter discontent with the bill is strong enough, they certainly will. When the Republicans recover control of Congress and the Senate, they will most certainly make modifications to the health care bill. Hopefully, they will keep some of the good parts and insert some good things. They will keep the features that allow sale of health care policies across state lines. They may well keep the parts called “rationing” by opponents of this bill, i.e., the committees that supervise distribution of questionable surgeries and treatments. I hope that they will make marked inroads into lowering tort claims, and I hope that they will institute a prohibition against using Federal dollars to fund abortion.

There is no doubt that President Obama will veto most of the changes that Republicans make to the bill, and it is quite likely that the hoped-for Republican take-over will not include a filibuster-proof majority in either house. However, public opinion may be so strong that even President Obama may bend to the wishes of the American people, at last, and do something acceptable to us.

I sincerely hope that this last option will be the one that finally takes place. The present bill is ill-conceived and will be horrendously expensive.