When Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in March 2010 — known universally as ObamaCare — they largely ignored every basic actuarial principle of insurance. As a result, ObamaCare was always going to collapse in what health insurers refer to as the “death spiral.”

The only reason it hasn’t already collapsed is Democrats passed additional taxpayer subsidies that insulated the insured from rising costs. This, in turn, explains why Democrats are now so determined to keep those subsidies.

In a normal insurance market, when someone applies for coverage, actuaries assess how much risk that applicant brings to the insurance pool. In life insurance, an older person generally brings more risk than a younger person. A home on a Florida beach brings more risk than a home in Nebraska. And a young male driver brings more risk than a middle-aged driver.

In all of these cases, actuaries would normally impose a higher premium or refuse coverage to the risker applicants.

That decision is

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