Of course we also have that special group of picky customers who want highly customized insurance policies. The NYT treated us to an example of such a person last week, Lori Gottlieb a 46-year-old psychotherapist living in Los Angeles.
Ms. Gottlieb is quite upset. After already having a child, the medical expenses for which were presumably covered by insurance, she does not want to have to pay for the expenses that other pregnant mothers and new parents incur. Under Obamacare she will no longer be able to buy her cherry-picking plan.
So this gets us to the meat of the problem. Obamacare is about ensuring that people will be able to get reasonably priced insurance regardless of their health. There are some healthy people who want to bet on their continued good health and tell the less healthy to get lost if it means paying somewhat more for their own insurance. It should not be asking too much of members of Congress to stand behind Obamacare and against the Lori Gottliebs of America. (From this)
The crux of ACA is no pre-existing conditions and no lifetime limits. Another way of saying that is: everybody is in the risk pool. Some people don't like the black guy (Obama) swimming in their risk pool. Ideally they want to be in a pool that many other people pay for but don't use. But the economics of healthcare gives us another example of "there is no away" to which you can send risky people. And if you look a little closer, you can see that we're all fragile and risky. That's why we all need to be included in the pool.
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