McArdle Rebuttal to Harry Reid

"Democrats Try to Hit the Insurance Companies Where it Hurts.", claiming they're eeevil monopolists:

This is supposed to be payback for that report saying that premiums were going up under the Baucus bill. Good luck with that. As I understand it, one of the prime causes of excess concentration in the health insurance market is state level regulation, not some sort of price fixing agreement. When the regulations make compliance too expensive, or make it hard to operate at a profit, the companies with the smaller client bases exit the market, especially if they have sister companies outside the state.

Look at New Jersey. Democrats hitting people where it hurts.

P.S. And on a related issue, why should Americans who oppose abortion as a matter of conscience be required to pay for it? Even many pro-choicers are appalled at abortion being used as birth control.