“And why was Meadows so credulous to take Paul Ryan seriously when he said the better way to deal with pre-existing conditions was to fund state high-risk pools instead of mandating the destruction of the entire market?”
this is just dumb. The reason for the individual mandate is because the pre-existing conditions cannot be refused coverage.
Funding high risk pools and pulling pre-existing conditions out of the rest of the market will reduce the premiums for the rest of the market, and the mandate is no longer required.
I like ending the enrollment new people preexisting conditions after a certain period and allowing those with preexisting conditions to be covered if they continue premiums. Your way sounds better than what we have.
Wouldn't we also have to form a "low-risk" pool that would insure 30-year-olds who think they will live forever and would rather party than pay health insurance premiums?
I carry fire insurance on my house despite the low risk of a fire. I do this because I am quite confident that the government would not rush to my rescue if a fire should destroy my house.
We need to stop using the term "insurance" to describe what is supplied by governments. Let's just call that "coverage". Coverage supplied through insurance is the result of a business arrangement between the insured and the insurance company.
Coverage supplied by the government is welfare.