This is just sick.

The hope of a government-run insurance option is all but gone. So there will be no effective alternative for consumers in the market for health coverage, which means no competitive pressure for private insurers to rein in premiums and other charges. (Forget about the nonprofit cooperatives. That’s like sending peewee footballers up against the Super Bowl champs.) Insurance companies are delighted with the way “reform” is unfolding. Think of it: The government is planning to require most uninsured Americans to buy health coverage. Millions of young and healthy individuals will be herded into the industry’s welcoming arms. This is the population the insurers drool over.

So just to get this straight. You and I are probably going to pay more in taxes, regardless of what they tell us, and our country is going to be set back another trillion bucks, so that Blue Cross can make even more money, while continuing to up our premiums by 25% a year with no commensurate increase in benefits. It’s good to be king. And let’s not forget the drug companies:

The White House, for its part, agreed not to seek additional savings from the drug companies over those 10 years. This resulted in big grins and high fives at the drug lobby. The White House was rolled. The deal meant that the government’s ability to use its enormous purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices was off the table.

This is what it feels like to be rolled. And played.