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The principles that rule this blog

Principles that will govern my thoughts as I express them here (from my opening statement):


  • Freedom of the individual should be as total as possible, limited only by the fact that nobody should be free to cause physical injury to another, or to deprive another person of his freedoms.
  • Government is necessary primarily to provide those services that private enterprise won't, or won't at a price that people can afford.
  • No person has a right to have his own beliefs on religious, moral, political, or other controversial issues imposed on others who do not share those beliefs.

I believe that Abraham Lincoln expressed it very well:

“The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all, or cannot
so well do, for themselves — in their separate, individual capacities.”


Comments will be invited, and I will attempt to reply to any comments that are offered in a serious and non-abusive manner. However, I will not tolerate abusive or profane language (my reasoning is that this is my blog, and so I can control it; I wouldn't interfere with your using such language on your own!)

If anyone finds an opinion that I express to be contrary to my principles, they are welcome to point this out. I hope that I can make a rational case for my comments. Because, in fact, one label I'll happily accept is rationalist.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Hobby Lobby, mandates, and the right way to do insurance

The big problem that led to the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores case is the decision by the authors of the so-called Affordable Care Act, a. k. a. “Obamacare,” to rely on compulsion, rather than assistance, to achieve its goal — and, of course, having the wrong goal: universal coverage, rather than coverage for all who want it. Since it mandated employers’ provision of insurance, it had to determine what was required to comply, and having some people set up minimum requirements that conflicted with others’ religious scruples is what caused the conflict that Hobby Lobby was all about.

Now, suppose that the goal was, as I think it should be, coverage for all who want it rather than universal coverage. Then nobody would be penalized with fines, either for failure to provide coverage or for failure to enroll. If a person’s employer did not provide coverage, or the person was unemployed, the government would provide a subsidy that can only be used to purchase health insurance. The amount of this subsidy could be keyed to income, of course. If a person’s employer provided coverage, but this coverage did not include something the government deemed essential, the government would provide a subsidy to enable the person to buy a supplemental policy that would cover those conditions and products that the government deemed essential but the employer-provided insurance policy did not cover. (Thus none of the Hobby Lobby-type conflicts.)

Some raise the argument that with the elimination of limitations on coverage for pre-existing conditions, people will decline to buy insurance until they are sick. There is an easy fix to this, which does not involve fining people. Simply use a rule similar to the one that parts of Medicare have: If you were eligible for insurance but did not choose to buy it, when you do buy it you will be liable for an increased premium.

Can anyone find fault with this way of doing it?

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