WHEN JAMES CLYBURN RAN FROM JASON MATTERA (VIDEO)

HotAir.com ^ | 4/16/10 | Ed Morrissey

[LAConservatif]

After the fireworks of Jim Moran, the crabby stubbornness of Al Franken, and the dogged determination of Barney Frank, James Clyburn turns out to be a big disappointment in his meeting with Jason Mattera.

[albie]

Not bad but it doesn’t hold a candle to the Moran, Fwank, Frankin interviews.

[DrC]

Harkin says he learned as an insurance agent “the larger the pool, the cheaper it is for everybody.” What a bonehead. Imagine 3 pools: Very Sick, Sick, Healthy. The costs of providing care to the 3 groups collectively are IDENTICAL regardless of whether you keep them ‘segregated’ in 3 pools or instead lump them together into a single pool.

What’s DIFFERENT is how the burden of paying for care is distributed. So long as the pools are separate, then everyone pays an amount that is proportional to their actual costs: Very Sick pay more than Healthy. But if you pool everyone together, it should be clear that the only group that will pay LESS under this arrangement are the very sick, while premiums for the sick and healthy will go up. Indeed, in terms of raw numbers, there will be more “losers” (paying higher premiums) than “winners” in the pooled arrangement than if the groups remain segregated.

Harkin simply thinks that making sick people pay more for their care is unfair. But since half of health spending is related to behavior/lifestyle, many would disagree with this value judgment. Conflating it with racial discrimination is grossly misleading and in no way helps clarify the issue. Quite the contrary, it inflames passions, which is exactly Harkin’s goal. He wants people thinking emotionally about these issues rather than using their rational judgment.