Mythbusting 'letting the market work' for health insurance

GrapeSodaMan

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Thursday September 24, 2009 · 4:31 PM PDT

2009/09/24 · 16:31

Republicans and Red Dog Democrats are fighting hard against a public option, often arguing that government needs to stand back and 'let the markets work.' Let's explore this argument.

Government has been standing back for decades, and 'the market' for health insurance has given our country 47 million uninsured Americans. Albert Einstein shared one definition of insanity as repeatedly doing the same thing again and expecting a different outcome.

Government standing back leaves insurance companies able to serve their only master, their shareholders. Their shareholders expect management to maximize profits. For an insurance company to maximize profits, they need to drop sick customers, and to reject all applications from those who aren't currently very healthy and expected to remain very healthy.

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