As long as I’m at it, here’s a sane plan that could be substituted for the insane individual mandate (my own idea, held, in print, since 1993.) This idea, by the way, would be incorporated within a system of private health insurance, not a government plan.
All the government would have to do is establish a grace period during which virtually everyone, whether wheelchair bound, on dialysis, etc., could sign up for an individual plan as a Fully Insurable Individual. As long as we sign up during the grace period, premiums would be the same as for any other individual.
Fail to sign up during the grace period and you lose the status of a Fully Insurable Individual and any insurance company could lawfully require a physical and could exclude any pre-existing conditions while charging the normal premium they charge everyone else of your age and sex, or require a rider and an additional premium associated with that rider.
When a person turns, say, 19, they would enter an automatic 6 months grace period during which they would be a Fully Insurable Individual. Fail to get insured during that time - lose that status and be subject to a physical.
If, after losing the status, one eventually passed a physical later and was given a clean policy, they would re-acquire the status of a Fully Insurable Individual (FII).
I won’t go into any more of the details here, unless someone wants me too, but essentially the Fully Insurable Individual status would replace the need for an individual mandate, and would allow the private insurance market to function properly. It would also provide a convenient avenue for government to play a role in ensuring that those too down-on-their-luck to maintain coverage could still have insurance, by subsidizing the cost of the most basic policy available so that they could retain their FII status.
“As long as I’m at it, here’s a sane plan that could be substituted for the insane individual mandate (my own idea, held, in print, since 1993.) This idea, by the way, would be incorporated within a system of private health insurance, not a government plan.”
Perhaps I’m missing something, but this is not a mandate HOW? It mandates that insurers insure people at rates below actuarial break-even; it mandates that the Fully Insureable Individual make a decision within your timeframes.
You don’t defeat a bad idea by meeting it halfway. Given the ‘93 date, I’m guessing you cooked this up in response to Hillarycare. Others fought it tooth and nail and flushed the whole deal.
Perry: I’m a long time Texas Republican, but if Perry wins, it will be without my vote. If the press follows up on the Texas Enterprise Fund, they will find crony capitalism that the Occupy Whatever crowd has not the wit to discover.
I haven’t forgiven him for the Trans-Texas Corridor, as envisioned the largest eminent domain land-grab and transfer (to a Spanish Corp. no less)in American history.
Pardon me, he really is as dumb as he looks; smart enough to hire good handlers, but consider; Gov. of Texas and he forgets Dept of Energy? Gee, Texas has a huge interest in what?