Letter to the Editor: Insurance?!

“Practice?! We talkin’ ‘bout practice?!” Ah, the immortal indignation of Allen Iverson. Allow me to retort.

Insurance?! We talkin’ ‘bout insurance?!

Every conversation I have about healthcare insurance starts with “insurance is a scam” (yes, we agree) and quickly devolves to “but, the government must mandate we all buy insurance” (no, no, no).

I invite you all to consider healthcare and healthcare insurance as two separate things (because they are).

And then, I invite you to consider some basic economic principles while you consider healthcare and healthcare insurance. Effective ventures do not need to be subsidized. Both producer and consumer benefit by mutual exchange. Otherwise, no viable market can sustain itself. By creating artificial demand, Obamacare creates a non-market that can’t be sustained without further subsidies. And, as a general principle, subsidies make everything more expensive (think tuition).

Yes, we all want healthcare to be affordable. But, forcing everyone to buy insurance is a foolish way of bringing costs down.

Scotty Watts

Baileys Harbor, Wis.