Reply #2: Not at all, it would subsidize those who can't afford it. And the government insurer would be the... [View All]

[joshcryer]

...cheapest way to go. The mandate basically says that most people would pick the government insurer, which is essentially single payer for all intents and purposes.

Because Obama doesn't have that mandate, people can chose to opt in and out at whim, screwing up premiums for not only the government insurer (which would, if mandated, become flat rate and very low cost, like single payer), but the private insurers.

This actually has the opposite effect of allowing private insurers to continue raising premiums to offset costs (because the government insurer would be doing it too), which is why the projections are so much higher.

Universial health care means you have to be responsible and pay into the system when you're healthy. All Obama promises are "penalties" for people who don't do as such (which is damn near a mandate itself, depending on whether or not those "penalties" are implemented correctly; there is no information about these penalties at all anywhere, it's just something they invented to rebutt Krugman on mandates).