Aaron Carroll compares Obamacare to a 1993 Washington state healthcare law, which tried to create near-universal healthcare without a mandate:
Here’s [pdf] a nice graphic demonstrating the number of insurance companies offering individual policies in WA state over time … When the law was enacted, there were 19 such companies. Then the individual mandate was struck down. Since the other regulations remained intact, a death spiral started. By 1995, 16 companies remained. By 1999, only 2 companies remained. The rate of uninsured in WA state was 13% in 1993. By 1999, it was 15%.
Which is presumably just fine by Mitt Romney. Sarah Kliff piles on.
* See here for metaphor explanation.
The Dish 