Resurrecting old insurance model is no sure cure

A new health insurance option awaits consumers this fall. Proponents have said it will offer lower premiums and relief from increasingly expensive “Obamacare” policies sold in the so-called individual market. That’s the place where people who don’t have employer or government-sponsored insurance turn when they need coverage.

It’s no secret that rising premiums have hurt people in that market if they are among those whom the law considers too wealthy for subsidies to help them out – for example, families of four with incomes above $100,400 and single people whose incomes exceed $48,560.

So the...