James Taranto points out the troubling reality about ObamaCare… and why its going to destroy the insurance industry. First, a lesson from Massachusetts:
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.
In 2009 alone, 936 people signed up for coverage with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts for three months or less and ran up claims of more than $1,000 per month while in the plan. Their medical spending while insured was more than four times the average for consumers who buy coverage on their own and retain it in a normal fashion, according to data the state's largest private insurer provided the Globe.
The typical monthly premium for these short-term members was $400, but their average claims exceeded $2,200 per month. The previous year, the company's data show it had even more high-spending, short-term members. Over those two years, the figures suggest the price tag ran into the millions.
Other insurers could not produce such detailed information for short-term customers but said they have witnessed a similar pattern. And, they said, the phenomenon is likely to be repeated on a grander scale when the new national health care law begins requiring most people to have insurance in 2014, unless federal regulators craft regulations to avoid the pitfall.
The dirty little secret about ObamaCare is that Democrats are coercing insurance industries into compliance with the Democrat’s social agenda. Insurance companies are becoming political tools Politicians can use to sway voters and maintain their power. The sad reality is that this agenda is ultimately one that creates what I would call a “moral hazard” — and by this I mean a situation that encourages individuals to act irresponsibly… by incentivizing them to dump the costs of their own personal care onto the backs of their fellow citizens AFTER they are injured… instead of bearing the costs of their risk along with their fellow citizens.
How many people do you think will pay monthly insurance premiums insurance if they can enroll in any plan they want at the moment they need medical bills paid? I wouldn’t. To call this “insurance” is to abuse the english language.
The sad reality of ObamaCare is that fewer people will have health insurance tomorrow than do today… and everyone’s premiums will continue to go up to cover the costs imposed by those who game the system.
It’s almost as if Obama’s intent all along was to run the insurance companies out of business.
via Strange New Respect – WSJ.com.