Paul Krugman is taking Blue Cross to task.

The liberal New York Times columnist harshly criticized Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina over reports it plans to run a series of ads attacking health care reform.

According to reports in the Washington Post and the N&O, the ads show Americans being prevented from choosing their doctor and forced to wait months by government bureaucrats, though Krugman says many HMO's already do that.

"“We can do a lot better than a government-run health care system,” says a voice-over in one of the ads. To which the obvious response is, if that’s true, why don’t you? Why deny Americans the chance to reject government insurance if it’s really that bad?

Krugman argues that none of the plans currently being discussed would force people into a government-run health care plan.

The ads were prepared by Capstrat, a Raleigh public relations firm.