Aetna CEO: Hard to Compete Against Person Referring Game

Aenta CEO Ron Williams made one of the few logical statements of Obama's health care infomercial last night:

It is hard to compete against someone who is referring the game. So, I think in the context of thinking about a government plan. Let's work with existing stakeholders to identify problems and solve them and not introduce new problems with government plan.

Obama's response:

I want to make clear. Whatever rules are in place, the public plan would have to follow those same rules. So, we are talking an unlevel playing field.

This is absurd. The "government" can afford any new rules it wants because it's taxpayer money at risk. If Obama lays down a new rule that says insurers will only be reimbursed $X for a procedure, that could bankrupt an insurer but would have no impact on the government - it would just increase the deficit.

Here's the question I would love to hear an answer to: Mr. President, the government runs Medicare and Medicaid and both programs are a disaster and trillions of dollars in the red. How do you expect to run this health care system better?