Just How Dumb is the “ACA Was A Health Insurance Industry Bailout” Argument?

It’s so dumb that wingnuts have embraced it.

Now, I’ll grant that the left version of this argument is just as silly and made by people who should know better. The health insurance industry didn’t need a “bailout” under the status quo ante — the fact that individual insurance market was basically a con and the ability to refuse coverage to the least profitable classes of customers worked just fine to ensure ongoing profitability, thanks. The risk corridors in the ACA that might provide subsidies to insurers with unfavorable risk pools are necessary because of the crucial consumer rights — guaranteed issue and the ban on rescission — provided for by the ACA. To call risk corridors a “bailout” comparable to giving cash to corporations so they don’t face the consequences of their own mistakes is still deeply asinine.