The Nov. 30 column by Paul Krugman in the New York Times offers a sobering preview of the bitter debate ahead should a Democrat retake the White House and launch a long-overdue campaign to reform the U.S. healthcare system, which has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. The hardest nut to crack, however, as the article indicates, will be whether to mandate that everyone must buy coverage. My response would be an emphatic yes!
Insurance only works–and it can only be affordable for all–if the spread of risk is wide enough. Thus, as long as healthy folk keep opting out, the pool becomes much smaller (and unaffordable) for all.
Left to their own devices, the public in general will not adequately look out for their own long-term financial health, whether its retirement or medical care or their own homes (note the inexplicable gap in flood insurance) at stake. That's why one of the wisest moves ever made in this country's history was to establish Social Security and mandate payroll deductions to pay for it. The program at least established a floor to support the elderly when they no longer work.
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