tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103178650688621041.post9120451328673547567..comments2023-08-16T09:59:11.179-05:00Comments on The Masses: Roberts Controlling Argument on the ACA / ObamacarePhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12247223131125650841noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103178650688621041.post-86524004566530338242012-06-29T13:12:50.628-05:002012-06-29T13:12:50.628-05:00I love Mark Thoma’s explanation on the economics o...I love Mark Thoma’s explanation on the economics of the mandate:<br />People know we are a compassionate society, and if they come down with a life threatening disease we will take care of them even if they don't have insurance, i.e. even if moral hazard causes them to shirk the personal responsibility conservatives hold so dear. Thus, relatively healthy people can take a chance and go without insurance secure in the knowledge that they will be treated if something awful happens. Broken bones, catastrophic illness and so on will be covered. But covered by whom? In many cases, the individual will not have sufficient resources to pay for the medical care, it would bankrupt them, so there is no choice but for all of the rest of us to pick up the bill.<br />A mandate stops this from happening. It forces those who would take a chance and go without care, those who are relying on all of the rest of us to insure them against large, unavoidable medical costs, to insure themselves against this. That is, it stops this moral hazard behavior.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05521189918433337035noreply@blogger.com