Kill the private health insurance industry before it kills you

The health-care industry doesn't care about your health. America needs Medicare for all.

The pitfalls of private insurance.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Image courtesy Fanatic Studio / Alamy Stock Photo)

The private health insurance industry needs to be killed. And the weapon of its demise is obvious: Medicare for all.

Before ObamaCare, the fact that private markets are horribly ill-suited to deliver health insurance was obvious. Unlike home or car insurance, very sick people can virtually never afford to pay the premiums necessary to cover their care. Back then, one of dozens of pre-existing conditions and a lapse in coverage meant you were virtually un-insurable. (For example, if you were pregnant and wanted insurance on the private market, you'd have to get an abortion first.)

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.