Group, Not Individual, Health Insurance Is Failing - John R. Graham - Critical Condition on National Review Online
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Research and commentary from a former senior executive in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Research and commentary from a former senior executive in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
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If this had happened to me when my child was younger, I might have been out of luck, because my child had an expensive pre-existing condition. 20 years ago, I was on a committee at my law firm to select a new medical insurance plan. One broker came to us and said he had a fabulous plan for the firm (which had 200 plus insured persons). All we had to do was find an excuse to fire three of our employees before the renewal period! One employee had cancer, and two had kids with expensive conditions. This broker didn’t know it, but I was one of the three persons that he said should be fired. When we said that we would not fire employees to get better insurance, his exact words were: “Then I can’t help you.” And he got up and walked out of the room.
So, I am very suspicious of this story about parents getting a better deal on private insurance. At the outset, parents of sick kids won't qualify. But it should be understood that these private plans will end up hurting any parent whose child later gets very sick. The plans begin by insuring small groups of healthy kids, then when some kids inevitably get sick, the premium rises for the group, but the people whose kids are healthy are told they can switch to a new cheaper product, driving the healthy kids out of the old pool, leaving the sick ones, whose rates skyrocket to the point that they are not affordable.
As to the "slacker mandate," my insurance covered our son until he was 24, allowing him to complete graduate school, which he would not have been able to do without such a provision in our health insurance policy.
What is needed is a system that completely separates work from health insurance, with nothing but large companies that must take all comers. It seems to work in Germany, with private insurance companies in regulated competition. That would be better than what we have today.
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