Having dealt with the economy and getting rid of the GM/Chrysler problem, Obama has now turned his attention to the next issue: health care. House Democrats are now furiously at work to unveil their plan. It appears they will push for an option of government health insurance. This idea seems appealing; it’s cheap health insurance that any American could have until being able to afford better coverage.

But like many of Obama’s other plans, this idea is still flawed. The government plan could help the uninsured get coverage, but the quality would be poor. Look at the other “businesses” that the government has run: the U.S. Postal Service, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, among others. All have poor track records. Don’t expect the government to do a better job with selling and providing health insurance.

But there’s another issue. Most Americans like their insurance provided by their employers. If the government plan is introduced as it is, it would undercut the prices of insurance companies. Employers would surely jump at the government plan, eventually driving insurers out of business. Once this happens, it would be a nightmare. With a sizeable portion of Americans on the government plan, the government would hold a monopoly over health insurance, and could jack up prices as they pleased.

This monoply would also make government-run health care easier. In almost every country in which this has happened, the results have been disasterous. The cost of healthcare is ridiculous and draining; Obama’s plan would cost at least $1 trillion to implement. And quality, has been forsaken, as there are waiting lists stretching on for months, which rarely (if ever) happens now. People have died waiting for treatment in these waiting lists.

Some say that this won’t happen, that no one wants government-run health care. Obama didn’t want to take over GM or the banks either, but now he controls much of both. He also stated that he didn’t want big government, but the size of government has expanded faster than ever. Based on what I have seen from Obama, the administration will surely seize any chance to control health care.

I might be slightly paranoid, but I still find this plan troubling. The government insurance plan is a good start, but there’s too much potential for abuse. If it is implemented, then there must be strong oversight, and should be limited to uninsured. Otherwise, the catastrophic ripple effect will occur.

Still, total coverage alone won’t cure the system. The rules of Medicare and Medicaid need to be revised, as do certain regulations on doctors. More importantly, there needs to be tort reform. Doctors pay out thousands of dollars for malpractice insurance, and frivilous lawsuits both drive up prices and put doctors out of business, which hurts everyone. Tort reform would take much of the expense out of medicine, as doctors would not have to charge so much to pay for malpractice.

So even though the current health care plan has potential, the administration needs to be extremely careful with it. It’s a slippery slope if they get it wrong, and even if they get it right, there are other things they need to do to keep costs down.