Repeal of the Individual Mandate & ACA’s High Premiums

When the Affordable Care Act was debated in Congress, and even earlier as progressives geared up for the fight, public health advocates often repeated the phrase, “health coverage will not be affordable until everyone has coverage.” The idea was that forcing everyone to have similar coverage, while charging similar rates, would somehow make coverage affordable. Or at least it would make coverage affordable for those with pre-existing conditions, if not for those who were healthier. I recently ran across someone who is blaming the high cost of Obamacare on the repeal of the individual mandate. Absent was any discussion about poorly crafted plan design, a multiplicity of mandated benefits and costly regulations.