There is no shortage of proposals for health insurance reform, and they all miss the point. Health insurance is supposed to provide financial protection against the medical costs of poor health. Yet many insured people still face the risk of enormous medical bills for their “covered” care. As economists who study health insurance, what we found really shocking was our calculation that three-fifths of that debt was incurred by households with health insurance. Perversely, health insurance — the very purpose of which is to provide a measure of stability in an uncertain world — is itself highly uncertain.

---