Speaking of preventable tragedies...

For those still trying to claim with a straight face that privatizing parts of health care will somehow lead to lower costs and better coverage, Bob Herbert points out a fine example of what can happen when governments try to cover services at private-sector prices:

Thanks to Mr. Bredesen's leadership, Tennessee is dumping nearly 200,000 residents, some of them desperately ill, from TennCare, the state's Medicaid program. Cindy Mann, a research professor and executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, concisely characterized the governor's efforts:

"What he's decided to do is save health care costs simply by not giving people health care."...

What is happening in Tennessee is profoundly cruel. The people being removed from the rolls - some of them disabled, some suffering from such serious illnesses as cancer and heart disease - are mostly working-poor individuals who cannot afford private insurance. They are being left with no coverage and in many instances are in a state of absolute panic.

And I doubt anybody will call in the National Guard or take up an international collection for the victims of the decision either.