Does anyone remember this old saw from political humorist P.J. O’Rourke: “if you think health care is expensive now, wait until it’s free.”

Unfortunately, it’s no joke. It’s precisely what has happened with our health care system. For tens of millions of Americans today – thanks to Obamacare, Medicare, Medicaid and other federal subsidy programs.  The more of the tab the government pays, the higher the costs.

This chart from Brian Blase at the Paragon Health Institute shows that the supersized COVID-era subsidies fueled a big run-up in premiums as taxpayers went from covering about 77% of all premiums to about 87%. That means health care is essentially free today for many Obamacare enrollees.

We are moving perilously close to a single-payer government-run free health care system for the majority of Americans, and no wonder the costs are exploding. This is EXACTLY what the Left wanted all along.