The fatal flaw in President Obama's health care plan

President Obama's health care plan has a fatal flaw, and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES points this out in a beautifully written post.

Meanwhile, Mybarackobama.com is asking us to sign a pledge of support for the president's three health care principles, which are, as follows:

* Reduce Costs — Rising health care costs are crushing the budgets of governments, businesses, individuals and families and they must be brought under control
* Guarantee Choice — Americans must have the freedom to keep whatever doctor and health care plan they have, or to select a new doctor or health care plan if they choose
* Ensure Quality Care for All — All Americans must have quality and affordable health care

This all sounds perfectly lovely, except that it is entirely lacking in specifics. As Echidne puts it,

And pigs would float if they were born with parachutes. I'm getting tired of a list of desires when combined with a plan which will do nothing to fulfill them. Sure, we need affordable insurance. But how are we going to get that?

Note that the reason other countries have lower health care costs is largely because they have one dominant source of public health care funding, perhaps combined with a small private insurance market. It is this which keeps the costs low. One large buyer can negotiate low prices and take advantage of huge quantity discounts and the public sector has the power to make new rules and regulations to limit the high rate of price increases in health care.

But we are not going to have that. We might not even get a public insurance option! So what is it exactly that we would get in the most recent Obama plan?

I agree with Echidne that we need to fight for the public insurance option. As for myself, if there is not a public insurance option included -- and at least a fair discussion of the merits of a single-payer plan--I am not going to be able to support Obama on this one.