ObamaCare’s perverse incentives harm those with pre-existing conditions
There’s no need to turn the entire system upside down to help the people who can’t buy private insurance. Continue reading
The Road to Socialized Medicine Is Paved With Preexisting Conditions
Imagine that you live in a world with no medical insurance, you take the risk to start the first insurance company, and competition springs up. Then a customer walks in to your office and wants you to sell him insurance. He has pre-existing conditions, but expects that you sell him a policy at the same price as more healthy people. Yaron Brook and Dan Watkins explain the absurd implications of this at Forbes.com: The Road to Socialized Medicine Is Paved With Preexisting Conditions.
How to Insure Americans who have Pre-Existing Conditions
Published in Pajamas Media: People with pre-existing conditions deserve better than ObamaCare’s price controls. Free market reforms can provide it. Like a hammer that sees every problem as a nail, many politicians think the solution to every problem is legislation that erodes our liberties.
How many are uninsurable because of pre-existing conditions?
An HHS study says 1% of Americans have been denied coverage because of a pre-existing conditions. Economists conclude that less than 1% of the population is uninsurable. The individual market pools risks well, and that allowing insurers to risk-rate premiums would encourage innovative products like health status insurance.
Ten Small-Scale Reforms For Pre-existing (Chronic) Conditions
Instead of more political meddling in insurance markets like guaranteed issue and community rating, the following free-market-oriented reforms would help alleviate the problems with pre-existing conditions. From John Goodman at the Health Affairs Blog:
Encourage Portable Insurance.
Allow Special Health Savings Accounts for the Chronically Ill.
Allow Special Needs Health Insurance.
Allow Health Status Insurance.
Allow Self-Insurance for Changes […]
ObamaCare’s high-risk pools may deny coverage
This week the Denver Business Journal and the Denver Post reported on Colorado’s new federally subsidizes high-risk pools (”GettingUSCovered”). But there’s a good reason to be concerned about quality and access. The Hill reports:
The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from an insurance program created by the new healthcare law [HR […]
