Mandatory Health Insurance Now!Ronald Bailey
Ronald Bailey (born November 23, 1953) is the science editor for Reason magazine. advocates "Mandatory Health Insurance Now!" (November). So did some Republicans in Congress during the height of the Billarycare proposal 10 years ago, and so has The Economist. Here's why they're all wrong. Bailey likens a mandate that adults buy health insurance to requirements for car and home insurance. This is a bad analogy. If you don't drive or own a car, you don't have to buy auto insurance. If you aren't actually paying a mortgage, you don't have to buy home insurance. Bailey is also guilty of bad math. He claims policies covering catastrophic expenses "typically" cost less than $300 per month for a family of four. A typical figure for just a married couple (no children, both in excellent health) is actually over $400 a month. The Richmond Times-Dispatch The Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD or TD for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia the capital of Virginia, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state. just mentioned the case of one couple who were quoted $1,700 per month for full coverage by Anthem, the health insurer of last resort insurer of last resort An insurance plan that accepts 'uninsurable' persons who have expensive and/or chronic diseases, and cannot obtain coverage at market rates. See Blues. in Virginia. Oh, and good luck getting coverage at any price if you have any pre-existing conditions or a child with medical problems. Don't forget the market: Impose a mandate, and watch premiums skyrocket sky·rock·et n. A firework that ascends high into the air where it explodes in a brilliant cascade of flares and starlike sparks. intr. & tr.v. as insurers take advantage. Bailey mentions couples with income of more than $50,000 a year who "choose" to go without health insurance. Someone working for a company making that amount typically would have employer-provided insurance. A little checking would reveal that many of these people are self-employed, trying to run small businesses, or working several part-time jobs to make that amount, and that this is not what they necessarily make every year. Fifty grand is not a lot of income any more: In many areas of the country it is not enough to qualify for a home mortgage, for example. Impose a mandate, and see a lot of struggling small businesses close. Realistically speaking, what would Bailey propose doing with those who lose their jobs and are unable to pay for this mandated health insurance? Throw them in jail? Fine them? If they can't afford insurance, how will they afford a fine? Mandating health insurance in response to the ongoing crisis in medical care is like solving the problem of affordable housing by mandating that everyone buy a house. Such a mandate is unworkable, unconstitutional unconstitutional adj. referring to a statute, governmental conduct, court decision or private contract (such as a covenant which purports to limit transfer of real property only to Caucasians) which violate one or more provisions of the U. S. Constitution. , and unlibertarian. Edwin Krampitz Jr. Drewryville, VA The Ronald Bailey article is interesting, but there seem to be two striking flaws in the proposal. Group health insurance in large companies protects the individual with costly conditions by including him with the less costly. As an individual, he will be dropped or his rates will soar. As for a large deductible That which may be taken away or subtracted. In taxation, an item that may be subtracted from gross income or adjusted gross income in determining taxable income (e.g., interest expenses, charitable contributions, certain taxes). making people smart consumers, this only applies to people who are already putting the least strain on the system. People with big medical costs know that they are going to fulfill the deductible at the start of the year, so they have no incentive to shop around. Truth is, the healthy will not give much thought to cost until they get a nasty health surprise, and that's not the time to shop. Richard Bellerose San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , CA By endorsing mandatory health insurance, Ronald Bailey grabbed hold of an important plank in any effective platform of an improved health care system. But he may have promised more than it will likely deliver. The best analogy is to the workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. system in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , in which I have worked for some time. Coverage is not perfect, but almost all civilian workers enjoy adequate protections, including defined benefits and assurance that the employer has the financial means to honor its obligations. Gaming by workers, employers, and insurers is constrained con·strain tr.v. con·strained, con·strain·ing, con·strains 1. To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige: felt constrained to object. See Synonyms at force. 2. . Except in pockets, there is no crisis of the uninsured or underinsured un·der·in·sure tr.v. un·der·in·sured, un·der·in·sur·ing, un·der·in·sures To insure under a policy that provides inadequate benefits: Be certain that you are not underinsured against catastrophic illness. . For a telling exception, look to asbestos-related diseases, which are almost entirely work-related. To sighs of relief from the state workers' comp comp See comparison. systems, but ultimately great disturbance to the American judicial system and economy, asbestos lawyers in the 1970S won the ability to file much more open-ended product liability suits. Had asbestos been kept within workers' compensation and had personal injury law firms This list of the world's largest law firms by revenue is taken from The Lawyer and The American Lawyer and is ordered by 2006 revenue:[1]
v. lu·bri·cat·ed, lu·bri·cat·ing, lu·bri·cates v.tr. 1. To apply a lubricant to. 2. To make slippery or smooth. v.intr. To act as a lubricant. from asbestos settlements, we might today have a smaller personal injury suit problem in the nation. But the history of workers' comp has not shown that open competition among private insurers is more successful than single payer or a mix of private and government insurance. Washington and Ohio, for example, are two of the handful of states with single-payer workers' comp systems. In numerous other states, large state-sponsored insurers compete against private insurers. At day's end, how insurance is organized does not seem to make much of a difference in employer and worker satisfaction or in relative costs. Peter Rousmaniere Woodstock, VT Ronald Bailey replies: First, I want to stress that mandatory health insurance is a second-best proposal. A totally free market system would be preferable; it's just not likely politically. Mandatory health insurance is a way to stop creeping creeping 1. gradual progression of a lesion or tissue growth. 2. prostrate growth pattern of a plant, e.g. c. buttercup (Ranunculus repens), c. caustic (Euphorbia drummondii), c. charlie (Glechoma hederacea), c. socialization socialization /so·cial·iza·tion/ (so?shal-i-za´shun) the process by which society integrates the individual and the individual learns to behave in socially acceptable ways. so·cial·i·za·tion n. and preserve private medicine. Regarding my math, Edwin Krampitz must be thinking of low-deductible insurance. I got my figures from Golden Rule Health Insurance but found, with just a few clicks, quotes for II high-deductible policies for a family of four ranging from $155 per month to $290 per month, with many more offered for below $400 per month. (As for the $50,000 figure, I simply quoted Sen. Bill Frist as evidence that pressure to require people to buy insurance is building.) Krampitz should also think about just how many small businesses are being bankrupted by our current dysfunctional health insurance system. And there is no need for fines or jail under my proposal. If he had read a bit more carefully, Krampitz would have found that I suggest that people have health savings accounts A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to the account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. that could be used to pay for health insurance premiums while they are between jobs, and as a last resort that the federal government provide vouchers for our poorest citizens to purchase private health insurance. Richard Bellerose's point that current group plans offered by companies cover costly individuals is well taken. Mandated catastrophic health insurance will have to be offered under some sort of community rating system so that the level of risk an individual consumer poses to an insurer does not affect the premium paid. With regard to his second objection, individuals would be required only to buy insurance to cover catastrophic health costs. If they want low-deductible policies, they will have to pay more based on their actual risks and/or save for their additional expenses in their health savings accounts. This is not a perfect system, just a hell of a lot better than the likely alternatives. To Peter Rousmaniere: Don't get me started on tort reform. |
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