|
|
 |
Friday
November 20, 2009 Since 1922 |
Clunker plan a preview of confusion to come?
From staff reports
Baytown Sun Published August 2, 2009 Are all the hiccups and confusion surrounding the government’s Cash for Clunkers program a sign of things to come?
The concept began as a way to help the ailing auto industry as well as struggling consumers in a slumping economy. The problem has been in the implementation.
Of course, that has always been this administration’s problem — something looks good on paper and sounds good if said fast enough but falls way short of expectation when it comes time to put planning into practice.
On one hand, the Clunkers program yielded quick results in that far more drivers signed up than the government ever expected. Unfortunately, the program itself was too underfunded to handle the runaway success.
Shortly after the program began last week the Web site designed to process Clunker rebates slowed to a crawl. Meanwhile, dealers estimated that only about 40,000 out of a quarter of a million sales were actually processed last week, Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow said.
One dealership reported that it submitted 150 forms only to receive 30 responses — all of which were denied.
This is the same government that wants to oversee a revamped health-care program where there will be vastly more Americans participating and much more than new cars at stake.
Included in the health care reform package is a plan to create a new “insurance exchange” established by the secretary of Health and Human Services that would allow the purchase of government-backed health insurance. That insurance, in turn, would set the standard of coverage for private insurers.
However, a look at all the confusion surrounding the Clunker plan begs the question — is this a precursor to how government-run health-care would be administered?
The scary part is that all of the proposed plans sound good in theory but, like Cash for Clunkers, will have major problems in reality.
So what we are left with are plans that sound good in theory but are overly ambitious and all-too-often poorly executed.
Will health-care reform suffer a similar fate?
As Morton Kondracke of Roll Call wrote in his Saturday column, President Obama told the AMA, "I'll never forget watching my own mother, as she fought cancer in her final days, spending time worrying about whether her insurer would claim her illness was a pre-existing condition so it could get out of providing coverage."
If the Clunker program is any indicator, the situation the President described will become par-for-the-course under federal oversight.
As one local dealer said Friday, the government needs to get out of the auto business — and it probably should stay out of the health-care business, too.
Baytown Sun Published August 2, 2009 Are all the hiccups and confusion surrounding the government’s Cash for Clunkers program a sign of things to come?
The concept began as a way to help the ailing auto industry as well as struggling consumers in a slumping economy. The problem has been in the implementation.
Of course, that has always been this administration’s problem — something looks good on paper and sounds good if said fast enough but falls way short of expectation when it comes time to put planning into practice.
On one hand, the Clunkers program yielded quick results in that far more drivers signed up than the government ever expected. Unfortunately, the program itself was too underfunded to handle the runaway success.
Shortly after the program began last week the Web site designed to process Clunker rebates slowed to a crawl. Meanwhile, dealers estimated that only about 40,000 out of a quarter of a million sales were actually processed last week, Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow said.
One dealership reported that it submitted 150 forms only to receive 30 responses — all of which were denied.
This is the same government that wants to oversee a revamped health-care program where there will be vastly more Americans participating and much more than new cars at stake.
Included in the health care reform package is a plan to create a new “insurance exchange” established by the secretary of Health and Human Services that would allow the purchase of government-backed health insurance. That insurance, in turn, would set the standard of coverage for private insurers.
However, a look at all the confusion surrounding the Clunker plan begs the question — is this a precursor to how government-run health-care would be administered?
The scary part is that all of the proposed plans sound good in theory but, like Cash for Clunkers, will have major problems in reality.
So what we are left with are plans that sound good in theory but are overly ambitious and all-too-often poorly executed.
Will health-care reform suffer a similar fate?
As Morton Kondracke of Roll Call wrote in his Saturday column, President Obama told the AMA, "I'll never forget watching my own mother, as she fought cancer in her final days, spending time worrying about whether her insurer would claim her illness was a pre-existing condition so it could get out of providing coverage."
If the Clunker program is any indicator, the situation the President described will become par-for-the-course under federal oversight.
As one local dealer said Friday, the government needs to get out of the auto business — and it probably should stay out of the health-care business, too.