Insurance industry representative Karen Ignagni correctly fears that the “government-run insurance plan that Obama supports … would put private insurers out of business.” (Denver Post, May 24) This is why supporters of single-payer medicine like it — it’s an incremental step toward a government insurance monopoly.
But Ms. Ignagni’s group has warmed to mandatory insurance, which is just as dangerous to both patients and insurers. It has been a disaster in Massachusetts. Along with skyrocketing costs and long waits for care, people’s insurance becomes illegal because politicians decide what qualifies as insurance. If this occurs nation-wide, politicians will eagerly offer their “solution”: shut down private insurers and impose a politically-controlled insurance monopoly.
To avoid this calamity, Ms. Ignagni should argue for free-markets. For example, changing tax policy so it no longer favors employer-provided insurance. The biased tax code shields insurers from competition, amplifies the threat of pre-existing conditions, and encourages over-consumption of treatment which drives up costs for everyone.
