Unintended Consequences

https://reason.com/blog/2018/12/27/it-sure-looks-like-this-obamacare-progra

I am an aging attorney. I have enjoyed my career thoroughly, but if I had to do it over, I might have chosen to study economics and the issue of unintended consequences. Fascinating stuff.

Please read the above article. Think back and consider the motives of those who conceived of and implemented Obamacare, which fundamentally changed the way health care was procured and delivered in the U.S. Some of those responsible certainly saw it as a step towards "single-payer healthcare." Others probably thought it was compassionate. Good motives don't make up for harmful policies. The legislation was rushed and too little attention was given to the costs vs. benefits of the many changes it was to foist upon the public and health-care and insurance industries.

Some of those impacted by Obamacare did consider the issue of unintended consequences (see, e.g., https://www.amia.org/sites/amia.org/files/2009-Policy-Meeting-Slides.pdf). Still, the lesson that seems to never be learned is that a centralized government authority is basically incompetent to fully realize and anticipate the many potentially adverse and unintended consequences of such a top-down solution to such an enormously complex and dynamic part of our economy.

As Nancy Pelosi famously said, "[W]e have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it...." The unintended consequences of what was in Obamacare are still being revealed. A law apparently designed to lower health care costs and improve the quality of results may have increased costs and impaired results. Unexpectedly ... Statist / authoritarian top-down initiatives that take decisions away from a market will always have unintended and harmful consequences. Will we ever learn?