USA election 08 (4)
Palin doesn't understand health insurance
Last night Gov Palin convincingly demonstrated her total ignorance of the health insurance market. The woman who, according to her, once went without health insurance (fact check please) said once again that eliminating state regulation of health insurers (the real world impact of allowing interstate sale of individual policies) would solve the health insurance crisis.
Not.
Deregulating health insurance would have the opposite effect. Sure, the market would 'work'; insurers would get licensed in the most insurance-friendly state, the one with the least regulation, the fewest regulations, the lowest requirements for benefits and capital reserves. States with higher standards for insurers - like prohibitions against retroactive cancelation of policies, requirements that insurers have enough cash on hand to pay claims, and an appeals process so physicians and patients can quickly resolve disputes, would find themselves with no insurers to regulate. The free market would force all insurers to offer the cheapest policies, the ones with the lowest benefits. Any insurer that tried to offer richer benefits or covered folks with pre-existing conditions would sign up older and sicker people - you know, the folks who actually need health insurance. And be bankrupt soon after.
Supporters of McCain's plan claim there would not be problems as insurance companies operate across state lines today. What they don't tell you is the plans they use as examples are employer-based. Under McCain, these would go away, to be replaced by individual policies. There would be nothing to prevent the cancellation of policies by insurers suddenly deciding they didn't want to pay bills for cancer treatment, a new pregnancy, or a special-needs child. Nothing, no appeal process, no regulator forcing the insurance company to pay claims or reconsider a policy cancellation.
Palin also said that McCain's proposed health insurance tax credit would help families buy insurance. What kind of policy would $5000 buy a family? Perhaps a 'mini-med' without coverage for hospital stays and a $5000 deductible. Family plans cost more than $12,000 on the employer market; although they are cheaper in the individual market that's only because the benefits are so much lower; individual plans typically have higher deductibles and copays, no coverage for drugs or pre-existing conditions and onerous pre-certification requirements.
Palin's lack of understanding of the world of health insurance conflicts with her claim to speak for Joe Sixpack and his bride Hockey Mom. McCain's plan would leave them with lousy coverage and no recourse, at the mercy of unregulated insurers.
Joseph Paduda 03.10.08
Last night Gov Palin convincingly demonstrated her total ignorance of the health insurance market. The woman who, according to her, once went without health insurance (fact check please) said once again that eliminating state regulation of health insurers (the real world impact of allowing interstate sale of individual policies) would solve the health insurance crisis.
Not.
Deregulating health insurance would have the opposite effect. Sure, the market would 'work'; insurers would get licensed in the most insurance-friendly state, the one with the least regulation, the fewest regulations, the lowest requirements for benefits and capital reserves. States with higher standards for insurers - like prohibitions against retroactive cancelation of policies, requirements that insurers have enough cash on hand to pay claims, and an appeals process so physicians and patients can quickly resolve disputes, would find themselves with no insurers to regulate. The free market would force all insurers to offer the cheapest policies, the ones with the lowest benefits. Any insurer that tried to offer richer benefits or covered folks with pre-existing conditions would sign up older and sicker people - you know, the folks who actually need health insurance. And be bankrupt soon after.
Supporters of McCain's plan claim there would not be problems as insurance companies operate across state lines today. What they don't tell you is the plans they use as examples are employer-based. Under McCain, these would go away, to be replaced by individual policies. There would be nothing to prevent the cancellation of policies by insurers suddenly deciding they didn't want to pay bills for cancer treatment, a new pregnancy, or a special-needs child. Nothing, no appeal process, no regulator forcing the insurance company to pay claims or reconsider a policy cancellation.
Palin also said that McCain's proposed health insurance tax credit would help families buy insurance. What kind of policy would $5000 buy a family? Perhaps a 'mini-med' without coverage for hospital stays and a $5000 deductible. Family plans cost more than $12,000 on the employer market; although they are cheaper in the individual market that's only because the benefits are so much lower; individual plans typically have higher deductibles and copays, no coverage for drugs or pre-existing conditions and onerous pre-certification requirements.
Palin's lack of understanding of the world of health insurance conflicts with her claim to speak for Joe Sixpack and his bride Hockey Mom. McCain's plan would leave them with lousy coverage and no recourse, at the mercy of unregulated insurers.
Joseph Paduda 03.10.08
Etiquetas: USA election 08
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