Normally when a major new law is proposed, it’s given a name that makes it catchy and appealing to as many people as possible. Of course, pretty much every time, the name is an obvious lie. But it’s still an effective lie, because every time someone says the name of the law, they’re giving you a positive soundbite. Obama’s health care plan, of course, was famously called “The Affordable Care Act.” So all of the news articles and cable news segments that talked about the law — even if they were critical of it — ended up reinforcing the message that it would make health care “affordable.” The same principle applies to the so-called “Equal Pay Act,” the “Freedom of Information Act,” the “Fair Housing Act,” and so on.
With that in mind, it’s worth taking a look at the name of a new ballot initiative that was introduced last week in the state of California. This ballot initiative was proposed by a retired lawyer in the state. And it would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for medication or procedures, unless those insurance companies could demonstrate — by “clear and convincing evidence” — that the medication or procedure is completely unnecessary in every way. In other words, they can’t reject a procedure because it’s too expensive. If they do, they’ll face a lawsuit that will almost certainly be successful. In practical terms, this would mean that the cost of health insurance (and medical procedures) would skyrocket. It would have the exact opposite of its intended effect. Insurance companies would probably go bankrupt very quickly, and a lot of people would lose access to health care entirely as a result. So calling this “bad policy” would be an understatement.
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