Matt Yglesias patiently read through the National Review’s latest prescription for a conservative alternative to the Affordable Care Act, and here’s what he found.

The core of a replacement would be a change in the tax treatment of health insurance. The tax break for coverage would be flattened and capped so that people would not get a bigger break the more comprehensive their insurance. The break would also be extended to people who do not have access to employer coverage. People would be allowed to purchase health insurance across state lines. Medicaid and Medicare would be converted into subsidies–essentially add-ons to the tax break or credit for coverage–for people to buy private coverage and pay for out-of-pocket health expenses.

Matt also did the yeoman’s work of explaining for the umpteenth time why these ideas won’t work. But what I’m interested in is how persistent this particular conservative fixation is. Read More