I don’t think there’s a whole lot of reader overlap between The Corner and the Curious Capitalist, so here’s the bulk of Ramesh Ponnuru’s latest response to my response to his response to my critique of his inaugural Time column:
The tax break for employer-provided coverage would stay on the books, although it would be flattened so as not to encourage gold-plating. It’s just that the playing field between employer-provided and individually-purchased insurance would be leveled. I suspect that over time we would have a much larger individual market, but it would be a gradual shift. The Republican plan is radical in some respects, but it’s not quite as radical as Fox makes it sound.
… If you don’t want a high-deductible plan, an employer-run system could leave you stuck with one against your will. A more robust individual market might not give you what you consider the perfect option, but you would at least be able to choose among the options yourself, based on your preferences rather than those of your employer.
I don’t want to make Ponnuru feel forced to respond yet again (to quote Captain Picard in that Borg movie, “It ends hyeah!”), so I’ll just say that if that‘s all he’s talking about, then no, it’s not very radical.