By Chuck Colson
Senator Baucus chairman of the Senate Finance committee has crafted a health care reform bill that would cut $123 billion from Medicare Advantage an extremely popular program that allows seniors to get additional coverage for things like hearing aids and vision carethings not covered in basic Medicare. So its not surprising that the private insurance company Humana which offers Medicare Advantage would send a letter to its customers warning them of the cut.
What is surprisingactually shockingwas the reaction of Senator Baucus.The Wall Street Journal reports that the infuriated Senator complained to the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which duly ordered Humana to cease and desist. CMS claimed the mailer was misleading and confusing and told the company it has opened an official probe" into the letters legality.
The only problem is that the letter wasnt misleading.
As National Public Radio reported Theres no denying that folks enrolled in Medicare Advantage would see reductions under the proposals...Humana does seem to have a point."
And earlier this week the Congressional Budget Office told Senator Baucuss committee that the proposed cuts would result in lower benefits and some 2.7 million people losing this coverage."
So it seems that a private insurer doesnt have to mislead its clients to get investigated by a federal agency. All it has to do torque off a powerful senator.
But what will happen if one day the government itself is in the health care business? Do you think for a moment it could resist the temptation to use its 
power against its competitorsin this case private insurers?
We already see how Congressional backers of the so-called government option" are trying to whip up public fury against private insurers.
This points to a larger critical largely un-discussed issue in this debate about health care reformand that is the biblically ordained role of both government and private institutions.
Government is ordained by God to preserve order restrain evil and do justice. Thats it. And from a biblical perspectiveupheld by both the Catholic and Protestant traditionsprivate institutions have a crucial role to play in society as well.
It became particularly clear during the Reformation that there were aspects of life over which government had no legitimate authority. The Reformers called this sphere sovereignty"every sphere carrying out its own responsibility before God. This not only includes such ancient institutions as the family and the Church it includes private enterpriselike insurance companiesand other voluntary associations.
Ive mentioned before my specific concerns about the health care bills now being debated on Capitol Hill. But my overwhelming concern is more fundamentaland thats the intrusion of government into spheres it simply does not belong at the expense of private institutions.
For this not only violates biblical principles and millennia of Western thought it ultimately leads to tyranny.
Like investigating private companies because they disagree with you and dare say so.
