Political Economy: Health Insurance

health insurance: I m offended on two levels here. I m offended because I believe we can help poor people get health insurance, but I m almost more offended theres a principle of political economy that basically, if you d told me, when the Supreme Court decision came down, I said, Its not a big deal. What state would turn down free money from the federal government to cover their poorest citizens? The fact that half the states are is such a massive rejection of any sensible model of political economy, its sort of offensive to me as an academic. And I think its nothing short of political malpractice that we are seeing in these states and we ve got to emphasize that and MIT economist Jonathan Gruber brings a unique perspective to the health care debate. Hes not only an expert in health care policy and the director of the health care program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, hes also one of a small number of wonks who helped design both Mitt Romneys health care system in Massachusetts and President Obamas Affordable Care Act. Gruber sat down for a fascinating chat yesterday with Harold Pollack about where the broader policy debate stands, and while the whole discussion is worth your time, I was struck by their focus on Medicaid expansion in particular. Gruber insisted we cannot talk enough about the life-costing tragedy that has taken place in America. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.