Reply #67: I got your 'hyperbole' right here: [View All]

[Edweird]

http://healthca.newamerica.net/blogposts/2008/reform_newt_gingrich_on_free_riders_and_the_individual_mandate-18127

"Gingrich appears to get this, as did fellow Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger in California, and Mitt Romney in Massachusetts. Romney made the individual mandate central to his state reform proposal while he was governor of Massachusetts, and confronted this issue head on in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, during the heat of the health reform conversations in his state. "Some of my libertarian friends balk at what looks like an individual mandate," he wrote. "But remember, someone has to pay for the health care that must, by law, be provided: Either the individual pays or the taxpayers pay. A free ride on government is not libertarian."

The reality of an individual mandate (when coupled with subsidies so that insurance is affordable and market reforms so that coverage is accessible), is that it would not only address the "free rider" problem, but also serve as a tool to enhance insurance market competition. When combined with market reforms and subsidies, the mandate would help move insurers away from a business model that relies on marketing and underwriting and towards a strategy that involves competing for customers based on performance and price. This is a good thing...and something those in favor of market competition could get behind."