Insurance is one thing. The safety net and redistribution are other things. Public goods are also related, yet separate from insurance.

This seems like a noncontroversial statement. Banal, even. But as the Senate takes up the Republican healthcare bill, it is necessary to articulate the difference between insurance and things that are not insurance —at least if the recent waves of brainless snark, media incuriosity and liberal indignation are an indication.