Catastrophe

Far-reaching federal controls on the health insurance industry, passed Sunday by the House of Representatives, were conceived in a political fantasy land and sold to an outraged public with bald-faced lies.

Now the worst piece of legislation in generations needs only the president's signature to become law.

A majority of Americans hate this blatant attack on individual freedoms and health care choices, this instrument of class warfare, this job-killing expansion of federal authority. Democratic Party lawmakers, when forced to choose between the wishes of voters and the wishes of liberal elitists, threw in their lot with the latter. And then they had the gall to celebrate the abomination as "history" of the good kind.

How power-hungry is this band of social engineers? They attached a multibillion-dollar federal takeover of college financial aid. Now not only is health care a "right" in the eyes of Democrats, but higher education is, too.

When you increase demand for a particular service, you inevitably will increase costs. Yet Democratic leaders continue to insist their schemes will reduce costs.

What a joke. The bill requires health insurers to charge no co-payments for preventive care. Contrary to Democrats' claims, that doesn't make those office visits "free." The costs will be recovered through higher premiums. Same for the provision that prohibits lifetime claim caps on policies. Higher premiums. No coverage denials for pre-existing conditions? Higher premiums. Dozens of coverage mandates in full force? Higher premiums.

Worse, Americans must buy this more expensive coverage or face financial penalties. Higher-income earners -- those with the resources to invest and create the jobs this economy so desperately needs -- will face higher payroll and capital gains taxes to subsidize less-productive citizens.

Democrats have insisted that their bill will increase access to care, not cause the rationing of it. But when doctors face a glut of new patients seeking their "free" preventive care and see already-paltry Medicare reimbursements slashed, expect appointment times to dry up.

Eventually, private health insurers will go bankrupt and leave the debt-addicted federal government as the sole payer for health care. This is the end game that President Obama can tout as his legacy: an all-new insolvent entitlement.

Reps. Dina Titus and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., did the bidding of Sen. Harry Reid and voted for this pox on the republic. The disastrous consequences for Nevada are on them.