Megan McArdle explains:

A mandate to buy insurance comes with a bunch of other things that have to be put into place to make it work.  Guaranteed issue, community rating, subsidies, and regulations as to what constitutes basic coverage.  These make the individual mandate very, very expensive for both individuals and The American Taxpayer.  Before Massachusetts, there was a fair amount of hope that by introducing the healthy youngsters currently foregoing insurance into the pool, the average cost of treatment would actually fall.   Massachusetts has fairly conclusively disproved that theory; health insurance premiums in the individual market are going to rise 10% this year, according to the Boston Globe.

There are a lot of reasons for that, but one is mandate creep, something that has particularly bedeviled New York.  A mandate essentially becomes an opportunity for various medical service providers groups to pick the pockets of consumers and taxpayers.  They lobby to get their service included in the mandatory package.  Consumers use it, because hey, it’s practically free.  Insurance costs go up–but there’s no reason not to keep on using podiatrists  and massage therapists, because your personal actions will not make a difference in bringing costs down.

Then, as I’ve earlier discussed, the government’s temptation in response to these problems is often price controls.  Overall, I’m not a fan.

The full post can be found here.