High Profile ObamaCare Supporter Reverses
A version of this article appeared June 18, 2012, on page A13 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Why I No Longer Support the Health Insurance Mandate. Mr. Williams is a former chairman and CEO of Aetna.
Notice what Williams says in the section in bold below. This is exactly what I said on my college blog in early 2010 when ObamaCare was being debated. Those who read the bill knew, those who wrote the bill set up a system that is guaranteed to blow up the private healthcare system. I am glad that Mr. Williams finally got around to actually reading what is in there.
Soon the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. I am not a lawyer, or an expert on the Constitution. But as the chairman and CEO of a major health plan, I had a ringside seat to the entire health-care reform process. After much reflection, I have concluded that the federal individual mandate, which requires all Americans to purchase health insurance starting in 2014, will not be upheld.
I don't say this lightly, as I have long been a vocal advocate of getting and keeping every American covered. As a society, we have a moral obligation to ensure everyone has access to affordable health care. We must find a way to cover those who are no longer healthy but need care.
A workable solution used by many states is a high-risk insurance pool funded by broad-based taxes. But Congress and the president chose to require health-insurance companies to guarantee issue—that is, to insure anyone at anytime.
This approach encourages people to only purchase insurance when care is needed. Insurance does not work if you only pay two months of premiums and receive hundreds of thousands of dollars of health care. This is the equivalent of getting a free ride. Under such a system, consumers would end up paying more to offset the added costs of free riders. Insurance would soon become unaffordable.
The rest can be read HERE.