$750 fine and no pre-existing conditions means higher insurance premiums for the rest of us

I have stated in a couple of posts that people, especially young people, will simply opt to pay the $750 a year penalty rather than purchase health insurance.

Since the health care bill will remove pre-existing illness exclusions and not allow insurance companies to charge more based on a person’s medical history, why would an otherwise healthy person opt to spend thousands on health insurance when they can just pay a $63 a month fine.  They will know that if they get sick they can simply by an insurance plan and not be penalized for having previously opted out of buying health insurance.

Dick Morris explains the impact that this will create:

All Americans will soon find their insurance premiums rising as a result of the bill. The young, uninsured will not buy policies. Why should they? Why not just pay the $750 fines each year? Why pay between 2% and 10% of their household income before subsidies kick in? It makes no financial sense for anyone making more than $30,000 to pay for coverage. (And most of those under that threshold will be covered by Medicaid, not by private insurance).

There is no reason for the young to buy private insurance. The legislation requires that health insurers take all comers and not raise rates based on pre-existing conditions. So the young can get coverage when they need it, having only paid $750 per year beforehand.

The difference in cost will, of course, be borne by families throughout America who will see their health insurance premiums increase. President Obama and his Democratic rubber stamps may appreciate that they are not raising taxes on the middle class, just raising mandatory health insurance premiums, but the distinction is likely to be lost on swing voters.