My GMU colleague (and Marginal Revolution’s) Tyler Cowen explains in today’s New York Times why health-insurance mandates might well harm the very people that it is meant to help. Here’s a key paragraph:
The proposals now before Congress would require just about everyone to buy health insurance or to get it through their employers — which would generally result in lower wages. In other words, millions of people would be compelled to spend lots of money on something they previously did not want, at least not at prevailing prices.