Reform My Ass
The Massachusetts almost-kinda-sorta universal health care system, little sister to the new federal plan, is proving to be the canary in the coal mine for big sis. The latest evidence that the "reform" is not only a sham, but a very expensive sham, is that ordinary people and not just the insurers are finding ways to beat the system at the expense of the rest of us:
Thousands of consumers are gaming Massachusetts’ 2006 health insurance law by buying insurance when they need to cover pricey medical care, such as fertility treatments and knee surgery, and then swiftly dropping coverage, a practice that insurance executives say is driving up costs for other people and small businesses...
The typical monthly premium for these short-term members was $400, but their average claims exceeded $2,200 per month...
The problem is, it is less expensive for consumers — especially young and healthy people — to pay the monthly penalty of as much as $93 imposed under the state law for not having insurance, than to buy the coverage year-round. This is also the case under the federal health care overhaul legislation signed by the president, insurers say.
The fix suggested by the insurance companies? Are you sitting down? Regulation of the clever little scofflaws by allowing them to buy insurance on the open market only once per year (which means, of course, that they will pay a monthly penalty the rest of the year until they are allowed to buy the insurance).
How the hell do you force people to buy insurance and bar them from buying it at the same time? With a straight face, I mean.
But Governor Patrick will have none of it. In February, pretending to care, he filed legislation that would generously allow people to buy insurance twice a year, not just once. Also:
[The bill] would also bring back the rule allowing insurers to exclude coverage for preexisting conditions for six months...
Huh?
Not to worry, Bay Staters. The federal plan will reduce the waiting period for people with pre-existing conditions to just three months. In the meantime, people with immediate medical expenses will be on their own — you know, like they were before "reform."
And by the way, like much of the benefits of the federal plan, the pre-existing conditions provision doesn't kick in until 2014.
