That's what I think the title of "Insurers offer to stop charging sick people more," one of today's AP stories, should be.
Two insurance giants, America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, have written to senators indicating that they are willing to phase out premiums that vary by prior health history if Congress requires all Americans to purchase coverage.
That is bad, bad news for healthy people like me.
It's key that the insurance companies are making this offer in exchange for forcing everyone to be covered -- because that's the only way this scam will work. If insurers don't charge more for higher-risk people, then they simply have to raise costs for everyone. But that would mean health insurance would be an even worse deal for healthy individuals than it already is -- and healthy Americans would flee. Except that they won't be allowed to, should AHIP and Blue Cross/Blue Shield get their way.
My health insurance already costs my employer and me far more than I get out of it in health benefits. (See my November 26, 2007 post for a more detailed breakdown.) If insurers trade risk-priced premiums for a universal coverage mandate, that disparity is going to get even worse.
Let's not shackle the healthy to pay for the sick.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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2 comments:
Thank you for calling this to your readers' attention. I hope your post receives wide exposure. I suspect, however, most channels of communication are controlled by individuals too "ethically challenged" to even understand the point.
I retired nearly 20 years ago. I have had no insurance for 30 years -- and I am far ahead financially, despite a decades-long battle with a set of worsening medical problems.
I solved the problems largely by myself through diet experimentation, following published suggestions from one physician. The other bits of advice -- and pharmaceuticals -- I received from other, local physicians were largely worthless.
I am very healthy now, and I deeply resent the call for "universal health care" -- at my expense and without my choice.
Excellent post, Stella!
I've blogged about it at the FIRM blog and the StateHouseCall policy blog:
http://www.westandfirm.org/blog/index.html
http://www.statehousecall.org/
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