Why is she so upset?

The following comment from one Hazel Meade appeared at Marginal Revolution today re problems with the (Un)Affordable Care Act:

The banning of catastrophic-only plans infuriates me the most. Those are the only plans that are actually financially sensible for a healthy individual to purchase. Everything else on the market is a perverse by-product of the employer-based insurance system.

Worst case scenario with a catastrophic-only plan is you end up with $10,000 in debt. That’s a debt load many times smaller than what the Federal government thinks students should take out to get a college degree. We’ll let you borrow $100,000 to get a sociology degree but, we think that $10,000 is an unconscionable amount to pay for medical expenses? So unconscionable that we have to FORCE YOU to buy a plan with more extensive coverage?

Of course, we all know the real reason for this. it’s meant to force healthy young people to subsidize healthcare for older sicker people. Just force them to pay more for insurance than they ought to, and force them to buy more extensive coverage than is rational.

I’m a nice guy and I’m getting up in years (at least that’s what my wife tells me). Yes, Hazel’s birth control pills and treatment of tennis elbow may cost a bit more as part of her “insurance” premiums; but she should feel rewarded rather than infuriated! She’s helping fund my health care.

Aren’t you sure that the wise folks who passed and are implementing the (Un)Affordable Care Act understand the trade offs involved? They understand that younger folks like Hazel need a little nudge (okay, a shove) to provide for us nice old folks. And they truly understand that now we will get all the health care we need.

Oh, and a good many of us nice old folks forget to say this, thank you, Hazel.