[quote=UCGal]I view it in the exact opposite way. The bill that passed was a give away to the private health insurance companies – customers are mandated to buy insurance but there were no cost constraints imposed.

Economies of scale are NOT working in insurance and big pharma. Look at Lipitor – it’s actually MORE expensive now, despite being one of the most prescribed meds out there. Shouldn’t it have gone down in price if true market forces were allowed to be in place?[/quote]

I don’t disagree that it was a give away to private insurers. And there were insufficient cost constraints. There are however, as noted above, profit constraints for private insurers. This was part of the trade off for the mandate.