Health Care BS

Because their canards about the health care “crisis” and the plight of “the uninsured” have failed to produce results, the advocates of government-run health care have hit upon a new pretext for imposing socialized medicine—-the economic downturn necessitates it.  Economist’s View links to a piece by Jonathan Gruber, who makes the following assertion:

As the country slips into what is possibly the worst downturn since the Depression, nearly all experts agree that Washington should stimulate demand with new spending. And one of the most effective ways to spend would be to give states money to enroll more people in Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan.

And how would this help the economy?

This would free up state money for rebuilding roads and bridges and other public works projects — spending that could create jobs.

Now, Gruber is a smart guy. This means he knows perfectly well that, even in the remote contingency that the states would actually use this “freed up” money in the way he suggests, it wouldn’t “create jobs.” This is nothing more than the hoary “make work” argument that economists have been refuting since the days of Adam Smith. Gruber goes on to say:

Expanded insurance coverage would also drive demand for high-paying, rewarding jobs in health services … These jobs could provide a landing spot for workers who have lost jobs in other sectors of the economy.

This is even more risible than the ”roads and bridges” argument. It assumes that the people who sign up for expanded government plans don’t currently access health care, an assumption that has been refuted by countless studies. Cheap government coverage won’t increase demand for health care and it won’t create jobs.

Nonetheless, you can expect to see Gruber’s “medicine for the job market” argument repeated over and over again during the next year. The people making it know it is nonsense, but they also know that make work bias is alive and well in the public consciousness. Thus, they hope to use it to finally trick the voters into accepting government-run health care.