Boston (SmartAboutHealth) - The health insurance industry has come out and stated that if health insurance was mandated, they would offer coverage to everyone. The big question now is if President-elect Barack Obama would agree to something such as this.
America’s Health Insurance Plans, which consists of all of the big health insurance companies in the U.S., has agreed to offer health insurance to everyone regardless of medical history, etc.
The catch is in order to do this they want to mandate health insurance, which would force Americans to buy health insurance coverage no matter what.
The plan has garnered support from various people but one who has not supported it to this point is President-elect Barack Obama.
We will have to wait and see how it all plays out and if the health insurance industry gets its way.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Of course, the insurance companies will provide coverage. That is more people paying premiums with higher and higher deductibles for less and less coverage. If the government mandates coverage then the insurance company stays relevant. People and the government need to wake up and understand the insurance companies are a huge part of the healthcare problem.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
There are a few big questions about the insurance industry offer:
- Would they charge everyone the same? or
- Would people with ‘pre-existing conditions’ be charged more?
They have said nothing about cost and coverage. If they charge everyone the same and accept all applications, the cost will be out of reach of most people. If they charge sick people more, the cost will be out of reach of sick people.
Mandates are very difficult to enforce. People who are not sick will try to avoid buying insurance. This means that only the expensive sick people will be in the pool, driving up costs.
Much better to have a single payer (the government) who covers absolutely everyone and puts some controls on the prices of drugs and specialist procedures.
This should be paid for from a tax on everyone.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
If you don’t go to single payer (Government) you can never solve the health insurance problem. You must be able to control the cost and only single payer can do that. It should be setup like medicare except for everyone. The biggest single problem is the ‘for profit’ health insurance companies, get rid of them. Many licensed providers can not even practice because they are not recognized by the health insurance companies. How can you save money if many licensed providers can not even work?
Insurance companies have become the great evil in this industry.
November 24th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
In Florida we mandated automobile liability insurance and the industry response was to jack-up premiums because the consumer is required to buy the product. Mandatory health insurance means criminal penalties for consumers if they do not purchase coverage, thereby giving insurance companies a license to gouge. The official excuse for the price gouging will be the “requirement to insure everyone” (making poor little insurance companies look like victims of a government mandate). I guarantee you that the sleazy Congress will work with the insurers to screw the public. As for consumers? Remember when Obama promised that tax reduction? What the little liar did not tell his dupes was just what Fred Thompsion predicted: Even “if” some taxes go down, consumers will get socked with higher prices for mandatory insurance etc., resulting in a net loss of income. All of you Obama idiots prepare to grab your ankles.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Why do insurance companies raise premiums? Because providers keep raising their costs. People need to stop looking at the insurance companies as the only part of the problem. Providers charge so much money for their services and bill for charges twice that insurance companies need to raise their rates to cover costs. Next time you go in for a routine service or office visit take a look at the actual billed charges from your doctor and ask yourself is that right?
November 25th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Medicare and Medicaid are subsidized through private insurances.
If you are treated with no insurance you get charged the standard rate, say $500.00.
If you have insurance you are then charged the negotiated rate could be 20/80 and at $400.00, you pay $80.00 and you insurance pays $380.00
If you are on Medicaid or Medicare, you pay nothing and the hospital charges $140.00
The pricing is that different, the government says this is all we will pay you.
The real price is $350.00, if you go to the doctor and have no insurance you negotiate pricing first. If you do not you will not get the same deal as the insurance companies, and you will never get the same price as government.
If everyone was insured then it would cost less, people keep saying it good systems and it works, it does but not without the insured paying more. What happen to the hospitals when all they get is $140.00 even if you raise the amount paid it would have to be to the level of insurances and government would be processing the payment you think they will be better at it?
I am not so sure about that.
November 28th, 2008 at 12:40 am
The Single Payer advantage is simple. We give our money to our government health fund instead of the insurance companies. Now because our funds will no not be used for PR campaigns, lobbyists, and campaign contributions, it will no longer be a corrupting influence on our government, and as an added bonus, we will have a lot more money for care.