This blog is overrated.

Ever wonder why those insurance-lobby “Harry and Louise” ads worked so well to derail Hillary’s health plan? This question on Ask Metafilter pretty much explains it all. The poster blithely inquires which plan would be best for him and his possibly soon-to-be-pregnant wife, assuming the following:

• I can get health insurance on the individual market; the only question is which plan I should choose.
• I can afford this insurance on a plumber’s apprentice’s salary.
• I’m basically “healthy,” so that should help me get a better rate. (Ever see a doctor for anything in the last ten years?)
• I’m never going to need major surgery or anything like that.
• Of course the plan will cover maternity care.

If you’re covered by your employer’s plan, voluntarily uninsured or never sick, there’s no reason to question any of these assumptions (unless you have a bizarre ideological fixation like some bloggers.) So why would you ever support some kind of commie government coercion?

I’m having flashbacks to the kinds of questions posted to the U of M students’ Livejournal community around March or April every year: “I’m a new grad student in the School of Information, and I’m looking for an apartment in Ann Arbor for next year. I’m willing to pay about $400-500/month, and I need somewhere very quiet and close to campus.” Except our unseasoned aspiring librarian’s naivete is unlikely to render him or her bankrupt, homeless or dead.