| | | Why the Young and Healthy Should Embrace ObamaCare
EZRA KLEIN: THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE YOUNG AND HEALTHY FOREVER
By John Johnson, Newser Staff
newser.com
Posted Aug 17, 2013 11:24 AM CDT
(NEWSER) – Critics of ObamaCare are more and more using this line of attack, observes Ezra Klein at Bloomberg: It's unfair to force young, healthy to buy health insurance in order to subsidize the insurance of older, sicker people. The critics are distorting the facts, writes Klein, but it is true that "a small number of young people—the ones who have the lowest risk and least need for insurance—are being asked to pay more than the current market calculates they should." So doesn't it make sense for them to skip ObamaCare and pay the (cheaper) penalty instead? No, says Klein.
It's not just that they might get into a car accident and go broke without coverage. There's a bigger issue: "Those young, healthy rich people will need a functional system in the future when they become older, sicker or poorer," writes Klein, and these reforms are a way to make sure it will be there. "So even for those least in need, health-insurance premiums are an investment—not in someone else’s future, but in their own." Click for his full column. |
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