It Took Sixteen Pages to Outlaw Private Health Insurance – Updated

Investor’s Business Daily caught a very tyrannical attempt by the Democrats to outlaw private health insurance in America. On page 16 of the 1,000+ page monster from the Democrats in the house comes the following:

“Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day” of the year the legislation becomes law.

So what exactly does that mean? IBD explains:

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won’t be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

You have liberty and you have tyranny. This is tyranny.

It is now, according to the Democrats, the federal government’s role to prevent you from trading your property, i.e. money, for a service, i.e. health insurance. According to the Democrats, the federal government has a Constitutional power that allows them to halt that exchange.

First of all, why? Why would they even include that in the bill? Why would the Democrats want to prevent you from buying your own health insurance? What purpose would that serve? I know what I think. You tell me what you think in the comments.

Second, where do they get this power? What section of the Constitution establishes the authority for the federal government to get in the middle of this? And don’t tell me general welfare. We’ve already squashed that canard here and here and here.

And finally, what will happen if this becomes law? IBD knows:

The nonpartisan Lewin Group estimated in April that 120 million or more Americans could lose their group coverage at work and end up in such a program. That would leave private carriers with 50 million or fewer customers. This could cause the market to, as Lewin Vice President John Sheils put it, “fizzle out altogether.”

What wasn’t known until now is that the bill itself will kill the market for private individual coverage by not letting any new policies be written after the public option becomes law.

The legislation is also likely to finish off health savings accounts, a goal that Democrats have had for years. They want to crush that alternative because nothing gives individuals more control over their medical care, and the government less, than HSAs.

With HSAs out of the way, a key obstacle to the left’s expansion of the welfare state will be removed.

The public option won’t be an option for many, but rather a mandate for buying government care. A free people should be outraged at this advance of soft tyranny.

An informed free people would be.

UPDATE:

Via Hot Air comes this reader comment on Instapundit:

Investor’s Business Daily did not continue to read the bill to page 19. “Individual health insurance coverage that is not grandfathered health insurance coverage under subsection (a) may only be offered on or after the first day of Y1 as an Exchange-participating health benefits plan. ” It does not outlaw individual private coverage – you can still buy the plan on the Exchange where they will compete with the public option, not be replaced by it. The advantage of the Exchange, is that the coverage no longer has one of the problems of individual coverage – skyrocketing premiums should you become ill.

Ed Morrissey says:

Well, that may address the issue, but price-fixing premiums means insurers can’t cover the costs of the risk they assume. Either the insurers will have to start with higher premiums to cover their costs, or they will go out of business when usage increases and premiums remain fixed. Forcing insurers into price-fixing schemes only adds another step to their extinction.

Glenn Reynolds says:

Hmm. We should have more time for all this stuff to be sorted out. Instead they’re ramming it through as quickly as possible. That makes me suspicious.

I ask, “Who gives a crap if they can still sell it via the Exchange? What gives Congress the power to tell insurers where they can sell their insurance? Is this not still tyranny?”

The Exchange will, as Ed pointed out, cause the cost of the service to rise without allowing for the increase in premiums. Read what is happening in Massachusetts with the Connector. It’s what the Exchange is modeled after and lobbyists have forced insurance companies to add more and more things to their policies, resulting in higher costs to the state. It will happen on a national level. Guaranteed.

And when they have to control costs, they will ration health care.