Krugman's Title for his article today sounds like the name for a football play, but is really about the strategy of the the medical industry over Health Care Reform.

Given his space limitations, Krugman is unable to mention three things I would like to bring up here.

First, my suspicion when I first read of the Health Care Industry's supposed cooperation with reform proposals was this. If the Industry can survive having a system put in place tying their hands now, then they can hope for better days when their advocates are back in power. Their supposed cooperation, therefore, is merely a delaying tactic.

Second, as my good friend Max Skidmore has pointed out, if private health insurers are unable to compete with a public option, then why do we need private health insurers?

Third, it's time to refute this ridiculous notion of socialism in medicine, the so-called socialized medicine. The objective here is to provide the means that all Americans will have affordable health insurance. The ownership of hospitals, clinics and private practices will remain in the hands they do today, not the government's. Socialism is when the government owns the means of production, such as hospitals, clinics and private practices. Therefore, this proposal is not Socialism. Further, if all Americans have health insurance coverage, then they will have a choice of which hospitals, clinics and private practices to spend their insurance dollars at. That means the hospitals, clinics and private practices will have to compete to get those dollars. Isn't that Free Enterprise and competition in a free market?

Somebody's going to say your choices will be limited with a public option. My guess is there will be supplemental insurance available through the free market and medical service providers who will be willing to provide you whatever service you want so long as you have the bucks. Brace yourself, though, for all kinds of BS horror stories.

Here's a link to Krugman's story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/opinion/22krugman.html?_r=1&th&emc=th