Big promises, skinny details, and somehow the bill always finds its way back to you. According to The Denver Post, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, running for governor, says he will seek a public option for health insurance if elected, and he laid it out in Denver alongside Attorney General Phil Weiser at a Young Democrats forum.
Bennet is talking about a state-run plan aimed at people who make too much for Medicaid but less than 200% of the federal poverty line, plus letting certain groups buy into the state employee plan. Weiser has his own sweeping plan too. The common thread is big government vibes, light math, and a lot of talk about “task forces” like that is a product.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Bennet says he would seek a public option for health insurance if elected governor.
- Bennet’s concept includes a state-run plan for people above Medicaid eligibility but under 200% of the federal poverty line.
- Bennet also proposed letting certain groups, including school districts and county governments, buy into the state employee health plan.
- Weiser’s plan includes ideas like using courts to fight cuts, creating a task force, and appointing a chief information officer for telehealth guardrails.
- Both campaigns did not provide cost estimates and said they could not share many details yet, including how they would pay for priorities.
My Bottom Line
It doesn’t get much more tone deaf than the solutions offered by these two Colorado dems who want to be Gov. They are pitching bigger government like it is a magic wand, and somehow we are supposed to clap because the wand comes with a new committee.
Why is it democrat solutions always involve more government? Seriously. Even when they admit they cannot estimate the price tag, the answer is still state-run plans, buy-ins, and investigations. If you cannot price it, you sure as hell cannot promise it.
If they can’t tell you who pays, they’re telling you you pay.
Here’s the part they skip: Government doesn’t provide anything. It merely redistributes. It does not create. So before we go invent a new state plan, how about less regulation, lower taxes, and actually cooperating with providers to figure out what is driving costs and what rules are strangling care.
And have either of these two seen the holes that exist in Colorado’s state budget, yet their solutions include more government?! If your plan needs a task force, it’s not a plan; it’s a stall.
If they want to earn trust, show the numbers, name the regulations they will cut, and explain exactly how they will reduce the regulatory burden without dumping costs on counties, employers, and families. Do that, and we can have a real conversation. Keep selling “public option” dreams with no math, and folks will keep calling it what it is: a bigger bureaucracy with a prettier label.
Source: The Denver Post
