Neil Sinhababu writes, "let me try to distract [Ezra] by asking a nice wonky question. What happens to the health insurance business if Obama's health care plan passes? Can a quick road to single-payer emerge from this?" Neil's idea is this: Obama's plan forces insurers to offer insurance to everyone at the same price but doesn't have a mandate. In general, that's considered dumb policy, as you can wander into your local Aetna office holding your newly dismembered thumb and sheepishly sign up for a policy before going to get it reattached. "This seems like a recipe for running insurance companies out of business," says Neil. "Sick people will buy insurance while the young and healthy won't, and the insurance companies will be likely to lose money on just about every client. So they fold."
