It's always nice to have an unexpected ally, but ObamaCare opponents must be reeling at the identity of the latest famous person to see the faults of President Obama's legacy healthcare system: former president Bill Clinton, who, speaking in Michigan, called ObamaCare the "the craziest thing in the world."
Here is some of what the surrogate for Hillary Clinton, who has praised ObamaCare, said:
“You’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half,” the surrogate said in Flint, Mich., Monday. “It’s the craziest thing in the world.” Also: “The people that are getting killed in this deal are small businesspeople and individuals who make just a little too much to get any of these subsidies.”
The Hillary Clinton campaign responded:
Amid the fallout from the ex-president’s remarks, Clinton spokesman Angel Urena clarified he was trying to speak about the “good it has done” in expanding coverage while addressing room for improvement.
“And while he was slightly short-handed, it's clear to everyone, including President Obama, that improvements are needed. That’s why Secretary Clinton has proposed measures including tax relief to cover excessive out-of-pocket costs, a public option and Medicare buy-in for those over 55,” Urena said.
But then the former president added something that should make us confident that he and Mrs. Clinton are on the same page–and that gives a hint of where we very likely would be headed under a second Clinton administration:
In his remarks, Clinton also railed against the “insurance model” as a whole.
You see, his arguments go well beyond the obvious failings of the Affordable Care Act, he is attacking the health insurance model employed in the United States to fund health care for the vast majority of Americans. It isn’t Obamacare he is ultimately criticizing, it’s the idea of having any kind of competitive, free market health insurance system.
“The insurance model doesn’t work here,” says the man who introduced a single-payer health care proposal (under the management of his wife, Hillary) back in the 1990’s. Isn’t it ovious he’s making the case to get private health insurance companies out of the business of paying for health care?
Oh sure, when she was running against Bernie Sanders, Hillary claimed single-payer would never happen here in the US, but that was in January. After losing over 20 primaries to the socialist upstart, she added a “public option” to her platform in May.
If they win the election, you’ll be singing “Oh Canada!” on the way to the doctor’s office.
The Republicans have come up with a number of good plans to replace ObamaCare. If Hillary Clinton is in the White House, they will have to fight especially hard not to see it replaced with single-payer (the government would be the single-payer).
Were that to happen ObamaCare would be only the second craziest thing in the world.