Sunday, August 02, 2009

They key to understanding Health Insurance

Get the healthy people to foot the bill for the sick people. 'Cause insurance is a bit of a pyramid scheme.

Krauthammer:

There will be only one way to make this work: Impose an individual mandate. Force the 18 million Americans between 18 and 34 who (often quite rationally) forgo health insurance to buy it. This will create a huge new pool of customers who rarely get sick but will be paying premiums every month. And those premiums will subsidize nirvana health insurance for older folks.

Net result? Another huge transfer of wealth from the young to the old, the now-routine specialty of the baby boomers; an end to the dream of imposing European-style health care on the U.S.; and a president who before Christmas will wave his pen, proclaim victory, and watch as the newest conventional wisdom reaffirms his divinity.


Krathammer seems confident that Obamacare will be reduced to tweeks in the insurance industry and, as noted, mandatory coverage for young folks.