September 18, 2007

Senator and democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is out with her new health care plan. She wants every American to have health insurance and estimates her plan would cost $110 billion a year. She says she’s learned from her failed 1994 attempt to transform health care. This time she offers “choice.” If you are insured and like your plan, you get to keep it. The government – meaning us -- will subsidize those without health insurance.

Don’t believe the cost estimate. Medicare was going to cost very little. Now it’s huge with an unending tax on our incomes.

Senator Clinton has said she intends to incrementally impose her 1994 plan. As usual, the Clintons try to cover-up their real intentions. If you want to see what socialized medicine does to a county, consider the Canadian and British systems where long waits for tests and surgery are so intolerable, many doctors are violating the law to go into private practice.

I hope you saw ABC’s 20/20 last Thursday. John Stoessel’s report on so-called “free” health care is must-reading. Go to abc.com and click on “20/20.” You will be properly informed.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.