Posted on 09/11/2009 12:45:56 PM PDT by Kozman
...This tells me there is going to be nowhere near a free market in health insurance. If there was, insurance companies would offer a very low rate to the youth, since most of them won't have any serious health problems for decades. But, if this is somehow intermingled with those who currently have pre-existing conditions, and the President indicates it does, then there won't be any free market for youth as far as health insurance. Health insurance companies that attempt to offer cheap insurance to youth won't be allowed to do so, since it appears that the "insurance" the youth will be required to buy will also somehow be tied in with bailing out the health of the elderly who have pre-existing conditions.
In other words, there is more than just a requirement for the youth to buy insurance, there is a hidden tax that will force the youth to pay for part of the coverage required for those with pre-existing conditions. Of course, this will all end up running through a huge health bureaucracy that will siphon off much of the hidden tax on the youth, and little of it will end up with the elderly (and that's part of why they will need Death Panels)...
(Excerpt) Read more at economicpolicyjournal.com ...
...This tells me there is going to be nowhere near a free market in health insurance.
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None of this charlatan and his big sham is about HEALTH CARE. It is about Marxist power and the destruction of our Constitutional Republic. You see, the BIG difference between Obama and Americans, is that America is founded on the principle that THE GOVERNMENT WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE. Obama’s Marxist ideology is just the opposite — YOU WILL WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT — THAT HE RUNS!!!! Karl Marx would be proud.
Thats easy.THEY GET TO PAY FOR IT ALL!
Simply put: Because they and THEIR children will end up paying the overwhelming majority of the inconceivably astronomical costs for the vile, ineptly run, immorally conceived, wholly unnecessary "universal health care program" which is about to be foisted on us.
I realize that auto insurance companies vary, some cancel major screw ups and others slip them into “high risk categories” but they are not canceled. Yet others distribute the entire costs over the total numbered of insured and offer discounts to those who place all their insurances with their company, or after a certain age, the rates go down.
While it isn't fair to the healthy, strong youth, it is a way for all to pay a share of the expense for all to have insurance. Buying across state lines, severing the insurance tied to employment and HSAs will reduce costs for all, drastically lower rates for those individuals and families living on the coasts, help grandma and grandpa AND allow those with preexisting conditions to draw from larger and larger pools of insureds. Just sayin’...don't slap me too hard (I am getting older ;-0.
Time for them to mature does not seem to be enough to alter what is coming.
The Socialists got into the education systems of this nation, and the mindlessness of their product simply continues to astonish me.
Oh, and THEY’LL be left holding the bag when the real costs of “Social Security”, “Medicare” and “Medicaid” come due, also.
Frankly, I’m surprised MORE of them are not in favor of euthanising aging “baby boomers”.
“but isn’t that the way car insurance works. Those of us who don’t have accidents or multiple traffic violations pay for those who do through higher rates?”
On the contrary, auto insurance is highly experience-rated. That is, 16-year males pay far higher rates than 50-year women since as a class, they are much higher risks. Moreover, even among 50-year women, the safest drivers will get discounts that reflect their lower risk compared to other 50-year old women with lots of accidents/tickets etc.
Moreover, if you’ve ever had an accident, you would discover that auto insurers, unlike health insurers, are allowed to charge YOU personally a higher rate the next year (as opposed to increasing rates for everyone in your age/rating category).
It’s not a perfect system, but it does a far better job than health insurance does of allocating premiums in rough approximation to one’s expected level of claims. Which everyone accepts as fair since one’s expected level of claims generally reflects factors under one’s own control. Admittedly, a 17 year old male who is an extremely safe driver may feel like they are paying an “unfair” premium, but even in those cases, my understanding is that some companies offer discounts for good grade, or taking driver’s ed or other factors associated with lower risks among otherwise higher-risk drivers. Moreover, being 17 doesn’t last forever.
We have a much different attitude about health insurance, in part because only about half of health spending is related to lifestyle and the rest relates to things we can’t control much such as genes, age etc. Thus, we impose all sorts of regulations that essentially are designed to force the healthy to pay for the sick. Real insurance only covers UNEXPECTED losses. But by forcing insurers to take all comers, to not take into account pre-existing conditions and/or place limits on how much can be charged to high vs. low risks, we essentially make insurance too expensive for some people to afford.
For example, community rating (charging everyone identical rates regardless of age, gender or health) does result in coverage that is less expensive for sick people (hence more can afford coverage), but it makes insurance overall more expensive. The result is a higher number of uninsured than if community rating hadn’t been imposed.
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