|
"At $700 per month, plus a likely $1000 deductible and $25 co-pay, they'd need to spend about $9,500+ out of pocket every year before seeing any benefit to purchasing your insurance. Its the risk-sharing that makes that premium prohibitive for many."
But, no one really, honestly explains how that is going to be different under a single payor. There still be that cost, that risk, it doesn't go away it shifts. That doesn't change single payor or 20 payor. It will still cost.. It will not be cheap or free, everybody still will be paid.
"and, in fact, in our state high-risk insurance pool"
And MINI what you aren't disclosing here is the WA high risk pool is for individual coverage, not group. Small group 2-50 is guaranteed issue. They can't ask, they can't say no. I write it all the time only a couple national players try to underwrite by age band or ask health questions.
So mini, in WA if you want to go to work for someone else YOU and Your Wife will be covered in 99.9% of the cases. In fact if you want to start your own business and have both you and your wife work (w-2) I'd be happy to send you the group application for both the blues as they ask no health questions that would make them say no and since you are currently covered, you can wingwalk with no preexisting in WA...
The high risk pool is for people who are buying individual coverage that have major health conditions PRIOR to seeking coverage. If you've owned coverage in WA, you can change coverage in WA...
the elephant in the room folks, is not who runs it, but how do we pay for it? Healthcare still has a cost, a significant cost no matter the number of players. What drives health care costs is simply claims...
Rate increases at least in WA have to be approved by the OIC (office of insurance commissioner) before they can be passed to the public. In other words they have to show a financial need to raise rates for this market. Believe it or not, sometimes they are told no....
Until we figure out how to get people to improve their personal health with things they will actually DO, no matter who delivers it, the cost will continue to rise, it's simple math....
Dumping the CEO's while I would take great, great pleasure in personally, will not stop people from getting sick either by accident or lifestyle. The simple refusal to address the root cause of COST (claims volume) with any vivable solution, any national program of improving the general health of the population.... it isn't going to matter who at the end of the day calls the shots. They will either need to raise revenues (taxes or premiums both are the same basic thing==money) or reduce service or increase self insurance (deductibles)
This is why I don't buy respectfully to the UHC folks, they don't address the cause, they only want to squeeze the pimple that forms (CEO's) rather than treat the problem. While it gives mommentary pleasure to pop that zit, it doesn't mean tomorrow you won't have five more...
|