If Public Option is Really Back, Why Such a Heavy Lift? — Rich Lowry
States like Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire that have imposed ObamaCare-style regulations have seen premiums jump for everyone. If people can wait to get sick until they obtain insurance, fewer healthy people will carry insurance. The cost of an older, sicker insurance pool naturally rises. To prevent this spiral of “adverse selection,” ObamaCare imposes a mandate requiring all adults to buy insurance. But Senate Finance Committee Dems — sensitive to its politically unpalatable requirements and fines — watered it down.
This only stokes the cost problem. According to the National Journal, MIT health economist Jonathan Gruber says that under this looser regime, the young and healthy will drop their insurance, and premiums will go up by 10 percent. Sarah Bianchi, the Kerry and Gore presidential campaigns’ chief domestic-policy adviser, fears the same dynamic.
Related Posts:
- Editorial: In a failure at all levels, Americans only now are told about $400,000 in White House payments to major pro-ObamaCare economist
- Gambling With American Medicine — Hugh Hewitt
- Obama Offers Up a Free Lunch — Carrie L. Lukas
- Health Care Reform and the Unpopular T-Word
- Nanny State alert, Fox News: Senate Bill Would Fine People More Than $1,000 for Refusing Health Care Coverage
