KeithHennessey.com

In July the health care reform debate looked at the effects of proposed legislation on the federal budget. Congress needs to focus on the effects of their proposed policies on workers’ future wages. If health care reform accelerates health cost growth because expanded insurance coverage means more health services are consumed, a median worker would see his real wages shrink.

The President once again correctly identified the core problem, and I compliment him for his emphasis on the need to reduce, or at least slow the growth of, private health insurance premiums. Unfortunately the House and Senate bills move in the opposite direction. They contain insurance mandates that would make private health insurance more expensive for most Americans, and would thus exacerbate the problems described by the President.