Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) — a vocal opponent of health care reform — made several apocalyptic predictions about the U.S. health care system during an appearance at the Republican Women’s Club of Tulsa County on Tuesday:
“There will be no insurance industry left in three years,” Coburn told the Republican Women’s Club of Tulsa County.
“That is by design. You’re going to make insurance unaffordable for everyone — which is what they want. Because if there’s no private insurance left, what’s left? Government-centered, government-run, single-payer health care.”
Coburn apparently based his prediction on reported hikes in private insurance premiums, increases he attributed to the new law. [...]
Coburn, facing re-election on Nov. 2, said it will be “the beginning of the end of America” if the reform bill’s so-called individual mandate is not revoked or thrown out by the courts.
As the Wonk Room points out, from saying that health reform would cause seniors to “die sooner” to wishing that Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) couldn’t vote for the health bill, Coburn has a history of making bizarre comments about reform.
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