Missourians Headstrong On Rejecting Healthcare Reform

Mo. Residents Use Their Heads

Talking Points Memo spotlights the wizened voters of Missouri who are on the brink (Aug. 3) of passing a law that would essentially destabilize Federal attempts at healthcare reform. The idea is to exempt people from the requirement of carrying and paying for insurance. But it's actually really stupid, and you just have to wonder if Missourians have totally put away their thinking caps after blessing the nation with Branson.

I had this same debate with coworkers; they resented the idea that something could be mandated or coerced from "above." While fighting the idea of Obama's soothing medicinal hands, they accept the rough hands of the state for things like auto insurance. Apparently it's okay to mandate something (insurance) if you want to drive, but it's outrageous to mandate something (insurance) if you want to not die from bad health. "Well a person does not have to drive, and further, it's the state government which is different from Federal stuff" goes the refrain.

Of course, people don't have to have good health either, and like people not driving or people not driving with auto insurance, those costs all come back to you in the form of spending on emergency care, higher premiums (to cover that emergency care), spending on public transportation (for non drivers) spending on unemployment or welfare (for those non-drivers) and higher auto premiums or coverage mandates (to cover those driving uncovered).

We are all destined to get sick, and those not covered transfer their costs to those that are. The power of the mandate is not for the government to impose its will, but to spread costs so that more services can be covered for everyone, and ultimately at less cost once everyone is fully on board.

A good example of this can be found at Groupon.com. That website lets you sign up for daily deals that give you huge discounts on products. There is a catch. A threshold number of people must sign on for each deal before the offer becomes active. If not enough people are interested, the offer does not take. Good insurance is a variant on that, where prices should come down the broader the customer base.

Missourian anti-Obama activists won't recognize subtleties that involve existing cost shifting and burdens, or the mechanics of structuring insurance, happy to wallow in the mire they are most familiar with. They will be proud of themselves for defeating Obama care, content with having nothing, and paying out of many side pockets for it.