If we know anything about regulation by now we know that it is easy to evade regulations and to dismantle them with the help of clever lawyers. We also know that it is difficult if not impossible to write regulations that take all contingencies and evasions into account. For more on this see the previous post.

It is much easier to run a business that embodies the principles and practices that the regulators want to see in the world as a whole. Not that running a business is particularly easy. Still it is easier to do it than to figure out language to describe it, particularly when the language must be made impervious to the onslaught of armies of clever weasels.

This is why a government run health plan is of supreme importance. If we give the health insurers a captive audience, which we will when we make health insurance mandatory, we must give that captive audience some chance not to be fleeced. A government plan will provide the competition needed to keep these monopolists honest.