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Employers get discounted rates that individuals do not, so you would have to pay employees massively more money for them to purchase their own policies without having to cut back elsewhere
Group rates are cheaper and there are tax advantages.
I just believe it makes more sense to move all that away from business. Higher wages, community group ratings and let individuals take the tax benefits.
The coverage for pre-existing will not work unless there is also a mandate. Otherwise, it would be like buying home owners insurance after one's house burnt down. Pre-existing, till 26, and the Mandate are the three main tenets of Obamacare.
I'm not disagreeing, just that it is not working.
I have never been personally for the Mandate, but went along with it since it did seem like the insurance plans thought it would work.
The age 26 benefited my daughter enormously. The pre-existing my daughter, myself and wife. So I am definitely a fan.
Hey Lilyflower I don't want to jump on you in particular but when looking at candidate promises maybe it helps to imagine ourselves in someone's else's position and wonder whether it could happen to *us.*
The reason that employer-based insurance covers pre-existing conditions is that most actively working folks are not sick. They certainly are not hired sick. So say you have a job and develop a serious life-threatening illness. Maybe cancer that doesn't kill you right away but makes you so ill and weak that you aren't able to do your job effectively and are fired. Your employer feels terrible about it but they are not a charity. There goes your relatively inexpensive or maybe even free medical care.
Now you may have some savings and so can cover COBRA costs but that will only last for 18 months. Now you are out of the less-expensive employer-based pool. Will an insurer be "happy" to cover you? Yes, I suppose but any actuary will of course make your premium the entire cost of your treatment plus overhead and profit. Insurance companies too are not a charity but profit-making centers. Cancer drugs can cost thousands a month. ERs will cover the emergencies but not on-going treatment.
What happens next? Some would try for SSD and Medicaid. But that road isn't a sure thing and in the meantime you will need to scrape together every cent you can to keep yourself alive and a roof over your head. You will need to sell everything, borrow to the hilt, ask friends and family for money.
Cases like this were not at all uncommon and were what the ACA was, in part, intended to prevent. Of course, it does it by spreading the costs (the mandate, higher insurance costs for many). Why costs for insurance under the ACA have risen is another story and certainly needs to be addressed. But nothing Trump has presented so far acknowledges or deals with the complexity of these issues.
Great point- lots of Trumper are all in favor of Social Darwinsim! They have theirs!! I'll get the last laugh though. I live in Australia with longer life expectancies. So statistically speaking, any of these blowhards anywhere near my age will be poisoning the Earth below us, while I'll be enjoying retirement and good health
We are using tremendous resources to treat conditions with no hope just to delay inevitable deaths.
No.....we are allowing drug companies, insurance companies and hospitals to amass huge profits on the back of peoples health issues.
If anyone should profit from health issues, it is doctors who spend massive amounts of time and money to educate themselves to be doctors. And yet, most of them are relegated to seeing 8-10 patients an hour just to maintain a middle to lower upper middle class lifestyle.
well, a replacement for Obamacare can quite easily guarantee coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. The key is to provide the right level of financial assistance to sicker people whose coverage costs more. That can be done through direct premium assistance, in the form of tax credits
Trump’s core policy principles: (1) repealing and replacing Obamacare; (2) near-universal coverage; (3) lower health insurance premiums. As a bonus, these goals can be achieved by a plan that reduces federal spending, cuts taxes, and improves health outcomes for the poor.
Tax credits will only work for people who have a noticeable income. People at the lower end of the income scale simply don't have the cash to pay premiums.
Employers get discounted rates that individuals do not, so you would have to pay employees massively more money for them to purchase their own policies without having to cut back elsewhere
Ummm..., no.
Employers get set rates because they are bringing a static, defined 'group' to the insurance company across which risk can be spread. When one employee leaves the firm (and thus the group), another employee is hired to replace him or her. The pool remains static and the risk can continue to be evenly spread in actuarial terms.
What percentage of the premium the employer pays varies between companies.
For a more definitive explanation, please see Post #128 on page 13 of this thread.
When I was stuck in 'Murica, even though I took the Almighty Personal Responsibility and took care of myself, and was cured of Ulcerative Colitis- I STILL was declined for all coverage due to pre-existing. I bet is insurance companies declined for lack of soul and conscience, these TRumpers wouldn;t be wetting themselves with glee
I knew a woman in her early to mid 40's who had her own business doing some kind of work for large companies. Because she had asthma, everyone denied her and she ended up going on the Illinois CHIP plan that was over $500 a month. This was back in 2002, mind you. So while some of these pre-existing conditions are cancer, and some are broken bones requiring surgery, there's a middle range of conditions like ulcerative colitis, asthma, thyroid, allergies, that insurance companies can deny you coverage for, or charge you very high premiums for, that aren't life threatening in most cases. (asthma can be, of course)
Given the number of people who have such conditions, I'm not sure we want to go back to creating a high risk pool where most of America will find themselves if they're not on a company insurance plan.
The insurance industry used to allow freelancers, such as writers, to get reasonably priced group insurance through their association. Then they stopped allowing it. I think they should go back to accepting it, particularly with small businesses that contribute to the economy and help lower the unemployment rate.
Tax credits will only work for people who have a noticeable income. People at the lower end of the income scale simply don't have the cash to pay premiums.
Exactly. In my case, with a prexisting condition there since my twenties, I know more than everything I need to take care of myself. I use a lot more supplies, mostly durable medical supplies, than they plan for. They should last three to five days, but for me I'm lucky they last two. I also run through a lot of other products which are quite expensive, but 'normally' not judged as 'necissary'. But if the stickum doesn't and you use several other things to make up for it its all on your dime.
As time goes by, I get more creative, but use up things faster. These are called 'durable medical supplies' and companies get in some cases three figures for a box. And sometimes the 'normal' usage is how they judge. I should change it daily, but that's double the cost I'd pay. All of these things are not mentioned when they push their plans.
I'll be 65 mid next year, and it should help, but as I'm on disability and retired, I couldn't pay out much. I'm on one of the supplimenal plans but its cheaper to get my supplies on Amazon and through a distributer who discounts it, and does not take insurence. Likely that will continue when I get medicare. If you were unable to work, and get the disabilty level payments, then you very likely cannot pay anyone a premium.
If you live at around the poverty line or just a bit below, every purchase is a decision and this has to include medical concerns.
What this country needs is healthcare NOT health insurance.
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