The idea that the health care industry can pass along the cost of treating uninsured or other non-paying patients to the insurance companies who then pass it along to those paying the premiums is just plain wrong. How big a factor is this in our rapidly escalting health care costs?  If the insured are going to wind up paying anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to be told up front?

It seems as though this is a sure ticket to a wild ride on a death-spiral: as insurance becomes less affordable, more individuals drop out, more employers either drop out or raise the employee share, and the rates keep going up in a futile attempt to keep the profit margin high.