Ease up, Dr. Krugman

[kristopher]

This is from Reed Hundt over at TPM back in December:

Ease up, Dr. Krugman
By Reed Hundt - December 2, 2007, 11:18AM

The debate about health care mandates importantly divides Obama from Clinton and Edwards. Paul Krugman blasted Obama on this, which alarms even Obama's supporters. But perhaps Homer has nodded just this once and Obama is on the more solid ground.

Here’s the key point, in my view: either Americans should get insurance from their employers or, if they lack an employer, they should have ways to enroll very easily in a comprehensive health insurance plan through a variety of different techniques. But this approach is quite a bit different than a mandate.

Mandates alone, without more of a systemic approach to the failures in the health insurance market, can produce a windfall for insurance salesmen and bad deals for individuals.

In Massachusetts, the only state to have a health care mandate, waivers have been granted to 20 percent of state residents who cannot afford coverage. Hundreds of thousands more have refused to purchase coverage despite the mandate. The very idea of government mandates directed to individuals evokes a command-and-control model that disturbs citizens who want to enjoy certain freedoms in choosing health care.

Can anyone imagine a President Clinton or Edwards – even if they are taking the advice of Paul Krugman, who I’m second to none in praising on other topics than mandates – using employers or the IRS to enforce a mandate by fines or other sanctions? Could an employer fire an employee for not adhering to a mandate? Could the police arrest those who fail by accident, confusion, or even negligence not to sign up? Could a hospital decline to treat those who did not comply with a mandate?

What we want to do is reform the system, and then find multiple ways to assure that everyone is covered. Everything about behavioral economics tells us that multiple ways to sign up are necessary, because one size doesn’t fit all in health care, and what people sign up to is as important as how they get signed up.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2007/12/02/ease_up_dr_krugman/