I would love to know what most people want from healthcare in America. Is it protection from financial ruin? Is it easy access to healthcare? Is it both? Because I don’t think we’re going to get both. Having insurance doesn’t protect you from financial ruin. And having insurance doesn’t provide easy access to medical care. It surely doesn’t make healthcare affordable. The average family makes $60,000 today and health insurance costs you and/or your employer $15,300. Insurance has gone up nearly 100% in the past 8 years. In 10 years, the average family will make $80,000 and health insurance will cost $33,000 (assuming health insurance rises at the same rate…it will). This is 41% of your pre-tax income! It’s simply not possible for this to happen.

It’s unthinkable to do nothing. But is prolonging the death of the insurance industry, through mandates that do not provide protection from financial ruin nor affordable access to healthcare, the right thing to do? The problem is…they have no idea how to fix this. And it’s politically impossible to do nothing.

Has anyone ever read Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell?