Comments on: Megan McArdle on Obamacare Defection http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/megan-mcardle-on-obamacare-defection/ taking the most charitable view of those who disagree Mon, 21 Dec 2020 00:12:22 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.32 By: Randy http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/megan-mcardle-on-obamacare-defection/#comment-255843 Fri, 22 Nov 2013 09:47:37 +0000 http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/?p=2285#comment-255843 Just a thought, but why not have the government take just the expensive healthcare items off the table, and then let people insure as they wish for routine healthcare expenses? That is, force people to pay a progressive income/wealth tax that would pay for catastrophic coverage for all – similar to the way Medicare works now.

]]> By: MichaelG http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/megan-mcardle-on-obamacare-defection/#comment-252971 Thu, 21 Nov 2013 02:19:00 +0000 http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/?p=2285#comment-252971 http://www.cnbc.com/id/101211556

If this report about the payment system not being complete is right, does that mean the insurance companies are not going to get paid the subsidy portion of Obamacare any time soon? I would think that’s a pretty serious issue for them, and would influence their decision to keep cooperating.

]]> By: Handle http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/megan-mcardle-on-obamacare-defection/#comment-252502 Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:23:10 +0000 http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/?p=2285#comment-252502 If it was just a reinsurance plan, it could have been set up privately, or even amongst the insurance companies themselves if the administration let it be known they would not be prosecuted under any anti-trust rule for doing so. Lots of reinsurance is done privately. This one is backed by the taxpayer.

]]> By: Arnold Kling http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/megan-mcardle-on-obamacare-defection/#comment-252079 Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:25:23 +0000 http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/?p=2285#comment-252079 If the money comes from taxpayers, it is a bailout.

]]> By: Arnold Kling http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/megan-mcardle-on-obamacare-defection/#comment-252071 Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:22:59 +0000 http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/?p=2285#comment-252071 She mis-stated the prisoners’ dilemma, but she applied the real prisoners’ dilemma correctly to the game between insurance companies and Democrats in Congress.

]]> By: Dave http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/megan-mcardle-on-obamacare-defection/#comment-251972 Wed, 20 Nov 2013 16:48:51 +0000 http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/?p=2285#comment-251972 There’s a post on Landsburg on how the game she describes is *not* a prisoner’s dilemma….

]]> By: Aidan http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/megan-mcardle-on-obamacare-defection/#comment-251858 Wed, 20 Nov 2013 16:03:25 +0000 http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/?p=2285#comment-251858 It’s a Republican Senator trying to maximize uncertainty and disruption in the insurance market under the guise of labeling something paid into by insurance carriers a “government bailout.”

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