Ezra Sums Up

On Healthcare:

Among the many implicit precepts directing health-care reform are the following:

(1) The employer-based system doesn't work, either to assure coverage or control cost.

(2) The employer-based system must be preserved.

(3) A strong public option would offer consumers lower premiums and attract a lot of customers.

(4) A strong public option cannot be included because private insurers cannot effectively compete with it.

(5) Among the worst economic distortions of the system is the fact that employers choose insurance for their employees, and thus employees don't really understand the cost of coverage.

(6) The exchange cannot initially be open to employees, and may never be opened to employees, because they might leave employer-based insurance in order to shop for their own policies more aggressively.

You can go on in this vein, of course. It's a bit of a problem.