Boston Globe: Editorial - Goodbye, Harry and Louise

From The Boston Globe: During the democratic presidential primaries, the key domestic policy disagreement was over the candidates' health reform plans. Should the government require every individual not covered by employers or a public plan to buy health insurance? Hillary Clinton and John Edwards said yes; Barack Obama said no. Now the insurance industry has announced its support for an individual mandate, a move that could bring the country closer to universal healthcare.

Favoring a mandate that everyone must have insurance would seem like a no-brainer for insurers - it guarantees them more customers who can spread the costs around. But the trade group America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association have added a major concession from their side: In exchange for the mandate they would agree to provide coverage to all comers, whatever their age or preexisting conditions. This could lead to a debate in which insurers are not working to sabotage agreement, as they did with the Harry and Louise ads in the 1990s.

The insurance industry's unwillingness to cover everyone has always been a great hurdle to reform. The industry has resisted any requirement from government that it cover everyone for fear that only the sick would enroll in the new plans, driving up the cost of premiums for all. With an individual mandate, the companies are assured they will also have healthy customers buying policies - because they have to.

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