. . . by reducing mandates:

A 2005 study by the Commonwealth Fund illustrates how insurance rates for young people are far higher in states with guaranteed issue and community rating than in states that do not have them. For instance:

-- A healthy 25-year-old male could purchase a policy for $960 a year in Kentucky but would pay about $5,880 in New Jersey.
-- A similar policy, available for about $1,548 in Kansas, costs $5,172 in New York.
-- A policy priced at $1,692 in Iowa costs $2,664 in Washington and $4,032 in Massachusetts.

. . . Forcing insurers to cover benefits that many consumers may not want (or need) also drives up premiums. For instance, New Jersey is one of only four states to mandate coverage for chiropody. And it is one of only 13 states that mandate coverage for in vitro fertilization — adding 3 percent to 5 percent to the cost of premiums. Proponents often argue that their particular mandate costs little; but when all 42 of New Jersey’s mandated benefits are added together the costs are significant. Nationwide, as many as one-quarter of the uninsured may have been priced out of the market by costly mandates.

Great comments guys!

Poor me,

You are correct that pandering is one important roadblock to healthcare legislation.

You can’t entirely ignore the needs of the poor. Think of us sending planeloads of aid over to Myanmar and China but ignoring our own people. Not good.

The only way to make it work is to give the poor services but restrict them to only what is reasonable, and restrict the middle class too.  The problem is no one wants to refuse in vitro fertilization to that nice couple down the road.

Even if it makes no sense. I don’t think poor people per se are the root problem, but I do believe pandering is holding us back.

Congress is geared up to give stuff away not hold stuff back or be the Grinch.

The primary problem with passing social legislation, regardless of topic, is what to do about the poor and minorities. Every program will discriminate against someone whether it is co-pays, mimimum premiums, coverage by age, essential vs. full coverage, etc. A common sense program for the middleclass and upper classes cannot pass because the poor/minorities do not want to pay for any of it. Politicians pander to them and the result is nothing.

No healthcare, no flat tax, not even tax rebates to only those who actually pay taxes. US domestic policy is driven by those who should have limited influence since they know nothing and pay nothing.

I can’t deny that even if this could be debated on many respects there is a nugget of truth here.

Certainly everything in high cost of living NY, NJ and Mass will be more expensive than Kentucky or Kansas. No avoiding that.

I see the biggest issue as one that both the libs and the cons have not taken on, because it is a political minefield. Namely, specifics of coverage. In vitro fertilization in my opinion should never be covered. A fine procedure, but totally elective. Not individual health related.

It stands to reason that a healthy 25 year old male has a vastly lower chance of ever needing health insurance or costly claims than a beaten up old senior citizen. That stands to reason.

The problem, and it is a big problem, is that we don’t buy health insurance just because it’s cheap. We buy health insurance for when we do get to 65 not 25, so we must have options available then not now. Guaranteed issue and community rating are one way, maybe a bad way, but one way, of insuring we really do have that coverage when we need it, and the insurance company can not just rip it out from under our feet.

Then there is the issue, which few think of until the problem arises, that even those who do have health insurance, those who do qualify, those who can pay, those who even have decent jobs, can be wiped out by a catastrophic illness.

These days of expensive medical procedures, it won’t take much, less than you think, to qualify as a catastrophe. It happens.

In an ideal world some insurance coverage should be basic, guaranteed to all. Some should be totally elective, paid out of pocket or not at all. Access to expensive procedures should be limited and regulated. The NCPA, being libertarian, may not like regulations for philosophical reasons, even when those regulations advance its own stated agenda.

If the insurance companies only have to insure 25 year olds and only for ingrown toenails the result will be no value to insurance. With companies increasing deductibles and lowering coverage every year, we are approaching that threshold today.

I detest think tanks and the dillweeds who proliferate them. They have gone from symbiotic to parasitic to our society. All it takes to create one is a website and a few bucks and a whackadoodle agenda. The end result is Frankenstenian.

All those classical liberals out there spouting Thomas Jefferson and pretending to be intelligent.

“My hope [is] that we have not labored in vain, and that our experiment will still prove that men can be governed by reason.” --Thomas Jefferson to George Mason, 1791. ME 8:124

Post Your Comments: