It Still Won't Work | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

It Still Won't Work | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Take one 'core element': prohibiting insurers from turning down customers with 'pre-existing conditions' or charging more to customers who become sick."

"The term 'pre-existing condition' simply means people who are already sick. But if you can wait to buy insurance after you get sick, who'd ever buy insurance while they're healthy?"

"New York provides an object lesson: It enacted precisely these 'reforms' in 1993. The next year, roughly 500,000 people canceled their insurance, according to a study by the actuarial firm of Milliman & Robertson."

"For example, if Democrats really wanted to deal with the problem of preexisting conditions, they'd support expanded state high-risk pools. Better yet, they'd offer the same tax break to people who buy their own insurance as we give to employer-provided insurance. Moving to personal, portable insurance means that people who lose their jobs would no longer automatically lose their insurance — so preexisting conditions would be far less of an issue.

And, if Democrats want to create an incentive for the young and healthy to buy insurance, they could eliminate costly mandated benefits that makes insurance a poor deal for the young."