Lance prefers to have private insurance rationing

by: Jason Springer

Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 04:00:00 PM EDT

Lance opposes the public insurance option, among other aspects of the plan, and cited it as a reason he disagrees with President Obama that no one who currently is satisfied with his or her health plan would be forced to change.

"My concern is that it will not be an even playing field," Lance said. "And although initially no one will be forced into it, over time, many Americans will be forced into it, particularly Americans who work for small businesses."

He said there would be rationing of services under a public plan. Private insurers already make decisions that can limit procedures and other services to which their customers have access, but Lance said public health-care systems in Canada and Western Europe suggest rationing would be worse under a government plan.

While he says it would harm central Jersey, studies have shown that over 660,000 people in the state could gain insurance by 2013 and more than a million by 2019. Maybe none of those people live in Central Jersey? Then there is this from Lance:

Lance said he has a policy of relying on CBO findings. He was one of only eight Republicans in the House to vote in favor of an energy bill in June that included a cap-and-trade system for cutting carbon emissions. He said he made the decision based in part on an assessment by the CBO that nationally people could expect to see a $175 increase in annual energy costs by 2020.