Sebelius: ‘Impossible’ to Have a ‘Functioning’ Health Insurance Market Without a Mandate

‘We need health costs overall to come down in America and unfortunately, the Republicans have no plan for that whatsoever’

EXCERPT:

JSEBELIUS: "Well, it’s impossible, I think, to have a functioning health insurance market unless you have everybody included and say to insurance companies, 'You can’t limit people on their pre-existing conditions.' So Republicans continue to say they want to make sure that everybody with a pre-existing condition can get insurance. On the other hand, they don’t want everybody to be included in the pool. I don’t know how that works. They talk about high-risk pools, Chris. High-risk pools are not insurance. High-risk pools are putting everyone who is sick or recovering or a survivor in a separate market letting those costs skyrocket. I've run a high-risk pool. They are miserable failures. They’re way too expensive and really don’t work for most people."

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