Health care law's affect on Minnesota individuals: Hard to predict

People who want health insurance but don't get it from their job or the government must buy coverage on what's called the individual insurance market.

"A lot of people who have never tried to get their own insurance really have no idea how challenging it can be," said Kris Lang, 47, of Minneapolis.

In Minnesota and most states, insurance companies can deny policies to individuals because of an applicant's health status or risk factors. But that will change in 2014 when the federal health law requires insurers to offer policies to all comers, regardless of their health status.

Often it’s not the patient’s fault that he has a preexisting condition (although one could argue this in cases of AIDS or lung cancer or cardiovascular disease secondary to smoking). At the same time, it’s not everyone else’s fault, either. Mandating same-cost coverage for preexisting conditions is not insurance. It is, in fact, public welfare, and it could be managed more effectively, efficiently, and affordably independent of the insurance industry that serves most of the population. For example, take any medium-sized corporation that provides health insurance benefits for its employees and their families. This is its “insurance pool.” The insurer evaluates the demographics and calculates the risk, and the corporation arrives at a premium for coverage. Corporations are very good at this. The insurers can usually calculate an appropriate premium to cover all the claims and still make a profit.

...and already covered under “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996” (HIPAA)

One of the most important protections under HIPAA is that it helps those with preexisting conditions get health coverage. In the past, some employers’ group health plans limited, or even denied, coverage if a new employee had such a condition before enrolling in the plan. Under HIPAA, that is not allowed. If the plan generally provides coverage but denies benefits to you because you had a condition before your coverage began, then HIPAA applies...

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_hipaa.html

I LOVE how this "article" completely AVOIDS the 2.?% excise tax on the REVENUE of Medical Device Manufacturers!!!!

Estimates are that this "little" tax will cost MN Companies like Medtronic a mere $200 MILLION and will affect the 235,000 citizens of Minnesota currently employed by these companies.

For those outside of Minnesota, it can arguably be called the Silicon Valley of Medical Device Manufacturers with companies like Medtronic having spawned many smaller startups and other related companies supporting medical device manufacturing.

MINNESOTAN's who support this TAX are absolutely NAIVE and STUPID!!

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