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She wants it to appear that costs have gone down, but in fact the bill will exacerbate the single greatest existing flaw in our health care system: the insulation of consumers of health care from the costs of what they consume. The majority of Americans, when they go to the doctor, feel as if they're spending someone else's money -- a situation which both Milton Friedman and common sense tell us cannot lead to disciplined spending.

All credible evidence and opinion points toward the current "reform" plans increasing the cost of insurance and medical care. Health insurance companies have said that premiums for almost everyone will rise, with prices doubling or tripling for many, particularly in the individual/family rather than employer group market.

When Democrats' plans to give everything to everyone for free or near-free and their intent to allow people to wait until they're sick before buying insurance (which would seem to defy the very definition of insurance, i.e. insuring against an unknown future event), take effect, costs will skyrocket.

The only way, then, for Pelosi to make prices for consumers decline in an environment of actually increasing costs is through massive government subsidies. This is the direction in which Bastiat's ghost is pointing -- while jumping up and down and screaming (in French), "Don't let them get away with such a transparent lie!" (The lie being the only thing about the situation that is transparent.)

"Subsidies" is simply another way to say "redistribution of wealth." The proposed Senate bill offers "assistance", meaning your money, to families of four making up to $88,200 (or individuals making $43,320). The House bill's numbers are similar. Under each bill, such a family of four's price to buy health insurance would be limited to about $2,500 and their out-of-pocket expenses capped somewhere between $4,000 and just over $6,000 per year. These numbers will massively increase the costs within the health care system as the subsidized insured over-consume health care and pay for less than the cost of services they use. This means that all Americans who aren't subsidized will see their prices go up to cover the unreimbursed costs.

In a way, what the Democrats want to do is to cause millions of Americans to have the same impact on our health care system that illegal aliens currently do: using health care services while paying much less than the costs they impose on the system, thus raising prices for everyone else.

The way in which politicians want to mask higher costs with lower prices is to increase taxes. Some suggest taxing "Cadillac" health insurance plans. Some suggest taxing upper-income earners, either through an income tax surcharge or lifting the cap on Medicare payroll taxes.