May 18, 2012 2:26PM 

# You Do Know What Makes It a ‘Free’ Market, Right? 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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Here’s a poor, unsuccessful letter I sent to the editor of the *Washington Post*:

> “[Health-care provision at center of Supreme Court debate was a Republican idea](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/health-care-provision-at-center-of-supreme-court-debate-was-a-republican-idea/2012/03/25/gIQAoCHocS_story.html)” \[Mar. 27, A7\] describes the health care law Mitt Romney signed while governor of Massachusetts as comprised of “free-market ideas.” Really?
> 
> 
> RomneyCare’s individual mandate, now mirrored in ObamaCare, uses the power of the state to compel people to health insurance. What could be more un-free than that?

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

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