Well we’ve listened to Peter Roskam for months badmouthing Democratic efforts to address the nation’s growing healthcare crisis. During that time what’s been missing is Roskam’s own plan to make healthcare affordable and available to all Americans.

Well the wait is over and the plan is in. And it is really, really stupid.

It came the other day in the form of an ammendment to H.R. 3962, the Affordable Healthcare for America Act, offered  House Minority Leader and Chief Idiot John Boehner. The Boehner ammendment essentially replaces all of the provisions of that bill, the House Democratic plan, with a great big Christmas present to the healthcare industry.

Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which Peter Roskam has repeatedly cited as authoritative in discussing the Democratic plans, released its evaluation of the Boehner ammendment. You can read the whole thing here.

Essentially though, the CBO finds that the Republican plan would actually increase the number of Americans with no health insurance coverage by 2019 when population growth is considered. The CBO found that the Republican plan would make it possible for only an additional 3 million Americans to obtain health coverage (compared to 34 million for the House Democratic plan) making not even a dent in the percentage of American without coverage. 17% now. 17% in 2019. This compared with the Democratic plan which reduces the percentage of uninsured to 4% in the same period.

Ironically, the Republican plan will only cut the deficit by $68 billion, compared to $104 billion for the Democratic plan.

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein sums it up well:

The Democratic bill, in other words, covers 12 times as many people and saves $36 billion more than the Republican plan. And amazingly, the Democratic bill has already been through three committees and a merger process. It’s already been shown to interest groups and advocacy organizations and industry stakeholders. It’s already made its compromises with reality. It’s already been through the legislative sausage grinder. And yet it saves more money and covers more people than the blank-slate alternative proposed by John Boehner and the House Republicans.

The Democrats, constrained by reality, produced a far better plan than Boehner, who was constrained solely by his political imagination and legislative skill.This is a major embarrassment for the Republicans. It’s one thing to keep your cards close to your chest. Republicans are in the minority, after all, and their plan stands no chance of passage. It’s another to lay them out on the table and show everyone that you have no hand, and aren’t even totally sure how to play the game. The Democratic plan isn’t perfect, but in comparison, it’s looking astonishingly good.

Key to the Republican plan are a couple of provisions that Peter Roskam likes to tout:  capping damages in medical malpractice cases and allowing insurance companies to sell policies across state lines.  These are huge gifts to the healthcare industry which has poured so much money into the campaign coffers of Roskam and other Republicans. They are also huge mistakes.

Capping malpractice damages would effectively immunize healthcare provider conglomerates against negative consequences when they screw up. This would reduce the incentive that healthcare providers currently have to improve quality and prevent errors and would leave consumers who are harmed by medical errors or negligence with little recourse.

Allowing policies to be sold across state lines would mean that health insurers would flock to jurisdictions where insurance regulations are minimal. Premiums would rise and benefit plans would shrink. Consumers will pay more for health insurance and get less.

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