Dissecting the Market Based Republican Health Care Plan. Big Government, Costly, Citizen Uncertainty, Fewer Covered, and Junk Policies.

Finally, a rabid conservative columnist who isn't afraid to gather up every bad Republican health care idea and present it as real reform. From Jennifer Rubin’s Washington Post column "Right Turn," the single most outrageous collection of “market based” health care ideas ever. Thank you, thank you, thank you….

You'll notice the biggest problem with a Republican market based health care plan is that it's even more convoluted and bureaucratic than ObamaCare. And it will cost big money:

She hasn't aged a day...

Conservative … market-based solutions aren't “free … It is likely that federal expenses would rise by approximately $30 to $40 billion per year, well below the $200 billion (and rising) annual expense of Obamacare when fully implemented.” This will not satisfy those who think there is no role for the federal government in health care

You got that right. Let’s take a point by point look the plans “Seven Pillars:”

Build a “defined contribution” approach to the public financing of health care. 

Translated, that means government dependence for everyone waiting for their next months insurance subsidy. Hypocrites?

Encourage personal responsibility and mandate continuous coverage protection.

No translation needed. It’s a big government “mandate”  again, Republican style.

Establish a genuine partnership with the states.

Translated, states become dependent on federal grant money and do whatever they want with it. Nothing more accountable than that?

Address the tax treatment of employer-sponsored plans.

Translated, good-bye to employer coverage and the business insurance deduction, which in turn abandons the Republican promise that we can all keep our current doctor. Ouch!

Overhaul Medicaid.

Translated, states will get small block grants, no federal minimum requirements, no strings attached, giving states the freedom to throw everybody off Medicaid. See, we're saving money.  

Initiate premium-support reform of Medicare.

Translated, fixed income seniors will have to pay more into health care….it’s a cost shift from our government to individuals who can’t afford it.

And finally, offset all new costs through spending cuts.

Translated, if you want health care at all, give up retirement security and every penny you've earned in your lifetime, enjoy a lower quality of life (we promised too much), cut spending on education, research, environment safeguards, oversight of our food supply, and guarantee tax freedom for corporations.

If successful, this new program could permanently change the national political conversation over health care policy.

Translated, true, we’ll live out our lives searching for gasoline in a world similar to the Mad Max world in “Road Warrior.”

The good news is that ObamaCare’s colossal failures (we haven’t even gotten to the implementation problems) have opened the door to conservative reform.  Do they want Obamacare or something that gives them a lot more value for taxpayers’ dollars?

Failures? You mean where businesses couldn't get their act together in time? Let's open the door. Nothing more comforting than health care on the cheap or junk insurance policies. Take that ObamaCare.