Intergenerational Redistribution

Leavitt, Hubbard, and Hennessy say that the pending healthcare reform benefits the old at the expense of the young.

Update: A blog reader in the administration emails me the following comment on this op-ed:

A reader of the Leavitt-Hubbard-Hennessy op-ed might have thought that everyone - regardless of age - would be paying the same premiums under health reform. That is not the case. The Senate Finance Committee's mark allows insurance companies to charge up to four times the premium to an older person than a younger person (see page 2 of the Chairman's modification [to be found here]). Moreover, even this would not apply to the vast majority of Americans because it is limited to the individual market, not employer insurance. The House has a similar proposal but limits the premium for older people to twice that of younger people (page 21 of their bill).