Comparison is matter of apples and oranges

The editorial of entitled, “Who are the kids and who are the adults?” attempted to draw parallels between the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, and the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). Let me correct some mistruths and highlight the differences:

• The MPDP was offered to the populace for a premium. It has never been mandatory.

• Projected MPDP cost for 10 years was $406 billion. Real cost was $549 billion. Those numbers look good compared the latest Obamacare projections.

• The MPDP rollout was not perfect. However it did not eliminate existing insurance.

• Mandatory Obamacare places one-sixth of the economy under federal control.

• Obamacare forces us all to have insurance policies offering identical coverage, much of which folks don’t want.

• Obamacare is mandatory for all, or a penalty (renamed a tax by the Supreme Court) will be levied.

• Obamacare was sold to the U.S. people by the current administration through a host of mistruths, such as the now infamous “ If you like your current plan, you can keep it … period.”

I haven’t even mentioned the failure of the Obamacare rollout. I heard an interesting observation today. During the same period of time the current administration designed and launched a single computer program, the greatest generation suffered Pearl Harbor, mobilized industry, invaded North Africa, Italy and Europe, island hopped the the Western Pacific, developed the nuclear bomb and defeated Hitler and the Japanese. Yet today’s government can’t even create a computer program — food for thought.

SHEP SNOW

Sandpoint