This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Thursday, September 17th, 2009. I'm Caleb Brown.

Montana, Senator Max Baucus has released his flavor of health care reform.

In short, you buy insurance, or else.

An insurance company sell it to you or else.

It also includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and fees.

Democrats may even try to sell the plan as one that enhances choice and competition.

Cato Institute Senior Fellow Mike Tanner, co-author of the book Healthy Competition, comments.

Well, first off, we still don't know a lot of details.

While this is billed as the Baucus Bill, there is no legislative language where we actually have is a

two hundred and 23 page

summary of what he hopes the bill will ultimately

include.

That said, we do know it includes an individual mandate that is a requirement that everyone must buy

health insurance of at least a minimum standard and if they don't there's a fairly substantial penalty.

The fine is as much as I believe

$3,500 for a family of four so that's a significant hit for the average family

if they don't participate. And of course it does also include a guaranteed issue requirement

that says insurers must sell health insurance to people regardless of their health

insurance status, something which is almost certain to drive up the cost of health insurance for the young and healthy.

What options do insurers have to avoid being forced to issue policies to people that they wouldn't issue policies to if they were free to choose their customers.

Well, insurers can always get around this sort of thing.

You put your insurance office on the 12th floor of a walk-up or something with no well you know on working

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