Last week, I highlighted what has already become the standard meme for ”progressive” policy wonks who wish to bash John McCain’s proposal to decouple health insurance from employment. The basic talking point, as expressed by Jonathan Cohn, goes as follows:
Insurance companies generally won’t offer coverage directly to people with ‘pre-existing conditions,’ since they represent such bad financial risks.
The […]
Barack Obama’s actual legislative record on health care is a cautionary tale. His current rhetoric about controlling costs notwithstanding, he has consistently favored policies that contribute to health care inflation.
For example, his career as an Illinois state senator was marked by unwavering support for government mandates dictating the coverage health insurers must provide. The WSJ explains why this is bad:
A long list of […]
Mark Gimein, writing in Slate, disputes the commonly held belief that ”Big Insurance” is driving health care inflation. He does a good job of debunking two pervasive myths:
Myth-1: Insurers’ profits are responsible for our health care costs.
Myth-2: Evidence from Medicare shows that a government program can provide the same services for less than the insurers.
Gimein disposes of the first myth by […]
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Posted 03 May 2008
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The LA Times delighted Lefty health care wonks yesterday with an article entitled Workers’ health insurance costs soar. Here’s the money quote (as it were):
Workers with job-based coverage for their families saw earnings rise 3% from 2001 to 2005, while their health insurance premium contribution increased 30% … The average cost nationally of family coverage during […]
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Posted 02 May 2008
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Single-payer advocates would have us believe that the high cost of health coverage is caused by greedy insurance companies. And, predictably, the remedy these people recommend is more government regulation.
Well, as this excellent WSJ piece explains, more government regulation is not the solution. Why? Because excess government regulation is the CAUSE of high insurance prices.
To hear some of the presidential […]
For Massachusetts residents with the effrontery to disobey their Boston masters in the matter of health insurance, the new year comes with a bite. As the Boston Globe enthusiastically phrases it:
The maximum penalty for those who flout the law and do not buy health insurance would be $912 a year, compared to $219 in 2007.
Notice the wording of […]
I’m sure I’ll (once again) incur the wrath of the “paulbearers” for highlighting the following segment from Ron Paul’s writings, but I was simply unable to pass it up. The Houston Chronicle provides a number of “interesting” quotes from the good doctor’s book, Freedom Under Seige, including this:
Paul also singled out people with AIDS, saying they “demand health care and […]
Advocates of universal coverage tend to discount the economic phenomenon known as “crowd-out.” Some simply don’t understand the concept, while others contend that it is nothing to fear.
Meanwhile, Maine’s “Dirigo” program has become the latest health care initiative to confirm that crowd-out is real and harmful. A new study sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund reports the following:
After 20 […]
In addition to encroaching on individual freedom and increasing unemployment, health insurance mandates do not achieve their ostensible goal–universal coverage. Among those who have pointed that out is Robert Reich. In a piece decrying Hillary Clinton’s attacks on Barack Obama, he writes the following:
We know from experience with mandated auto insurance–and we’re learning from what’s happening in […]
Unlike John Edwards and Hillary Clinton, John McCain understands that health insurance mandates are a bad idea. Yesterday, during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, he said mandating health insurance makes about as much sense as requiring everyone to buy a house:
I’m not going to mandate that every American have health insurance. I’m not going to mandate that […]