Huckabee is right. It is ridiculous to insist that insurance companies must sell coverage to persons who are already sick, at the same price a person who presents an ordinary risk.

This amounts to a requirement that the insurance company provide, out of its own pocket, welfare. The State isn’t supposed to be able to order people to hand over the money, except by levying taxes. And taxes mustn’t single out particular victims. That’s a bill of attainder, and it’s unconstitutional.

If we decide as a nation that everyone is entitled to health care whether or not they feel like paying for it, let alone whether or not they can pay for it, then no one will feel like buying insurance. Why bother? Wait until you’re sick, then buy.

Of course, all the insurance companies will fail. With no premium stream to cover their expenses, they can’t expect to make ends meet.

The “preexisting conditions” clause amounts to an act of confiscation. It is simply impossible for insurance companies to operate under that rule for any length of time.

Once they’ve failed, no one will have health insurance, because no one can offer it. We’ll all be left to rely on our own savings, on charity, and on government run health care systems.

That, of course, is the intent behind the text of the bill. Break all private insurance, then socialize medicine, while faulting private insurance for fiscal folly as well as moral cruelty.

If we want to cover people with preexisting conditions, this can be done without breaking the whole system. Make insurance portable. Provide basic coverage to people who are between jobs, as part of unemployment benefits. Provide insurance coverage to children whose parents cannot afford it.

This would leave out only those able-bodied adults who decided they didn’t want coverage, but would rather keep their money and hope for the best. For them, our attitude must be that it’s a free country and you can do that if you like, but don’t expect the best and most expensive treatment if your luck fails.