Insurance, Schminsurance
March 8, 2006
11:15 a.m., MT
Sunni's Mood: tired and grouchy

I don't generally read much of Hoppe's writing, as he tends to wander a bit much [let's all say it together: Pot, meet kettle!] and is rather pedantic, but his piece yesterday on insurance caught my eye. I don't think much of the entire concept of insurance as it's realized in our overly mandated-and-regulated society, and even in a free society would probably choose to buy much less insurance than most individuals. To me, it's just a trussed-up form of gambling, and I prefer to do the little gambling I must in other forms. But I waded through the piece, and about 2/3 of the way in, was rewarded for it (if you want to skip ahead to what I considered the good part, search the document for "state regulation of insurance"). His brief summary of state regulation of medical coverage is but a taste of their follies; and Hoppe buries what I think is the most important point in his essay: It is increasingly rational for people to be uninsured.

Hoppe notes the growing calls for compulsory health insurance (see this summary of Taxachusetts govcrat Mitt Romney's idea or a couple of extended comments from "experts" at PBS). What I'm wondering is just how something like that might be accomplished. If an uninsured person seeks medical care after the Great Medicalemmingization occurs, will one be denied care unless and until one joins the herd? Will one be automatically enrolled without even being asked? What if a person refuses to fill out the forms and such that will invariably be required (and will invariably push up administrative costs)? What will become of programs like SimpleCare -- will they become illegal?

Somehow, I just don't see compulsory medical insurance solving any legitimate problem here. But you can bet that it'll make life lots more interesting for folks like me. And that I don't need.

[Admin note: I know I've unanswered questions still from the recent round of Ask An Anarchist and followup; I will get to them, most likely after this issue of the Salon is done.]

Sunni

Comments: 2 people have contributed to the conversation

On Wednesday, March 8th, at approximately 10:03 p.m. Mountain time, Adem Kupi said:

Yeah, I normally feel the same way about triple-H, but he really hit a home run with that insurance essay.
(The other thing I appreciate about him is his treatment of time preferences, which is something I think is overlooked by most people)

On Thursday, March 9th, at approximately 6:57 a.m. Mountain time, vache folle said:

In theory, insurance is a great tool. In practice, the insurance industry seems to me to attract a lot of swindlers. Even the most "reputable" insurers seem to have a hard time paying claims.

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