Television reporters often compress complex issues into short sound bites because they fear getting “into the weeds” of details. Sometimes, however, they go too far. The result can be confusion at best and misunderstanding at worst. When talking about health care insurance reform, for example, many reporters have adopted a shorthand explanation of the proposal [...]
Eventually, inevitably, the public option health program will face an actuarial crisis, just as Medicare does today. As the rolls of the public option swell, so, too, will the costs. Because the risk is not shared proportionately, the system will face deficits, becoming another unfunded entitlement. The funds require to keep this bloated program afloat will cost the taxpayer even more than private health insurance. By then, however, private health insurance companies will be out of business. There will be nowhere else to turn.