Lower Cost Healthcare for Seniors Coming–Paid for by the Young

Charles Krauthammer points out some unintended consequences of the failing health care reform scheme.

1. It is now reduced to being health care insurance reform.

2. The reform will probably mean new rules for insurance companies: “no policy cancellations, no pre-existing condition requirements, perhaps even a cap on out-of-pocket expenses.”

3. How to pay for this? The 18 million 18 to 34 year olds who don’t currently buy health insurance will now have to. Since they don’t have the big medical bills that seniors have, their insurance rates will subsidize the insurance rates of the higher-cost seniors.

“There will be only one way to make this work: Impose an individual mandate. Force the 18 million Americans between 18 and 34 who (often quite rationally) forgo health insurance to buy it. This will create a huge new pool of customers who rarely get sick but will be paying premiums every month. And those premiums will subsidize nirvana health insurance for older folks.

“Net result? Another huge transfer of wealth from the young to the old, the now-routine specialty of the baby boomers . . . .”

Hmm. You think the young will wise up when they get the shaft? Experience is a tough teacher, but this age group seems to have unusual difficulty in putting 2 + 2 together.