September 2009

We Are What We Eat

by Louise September 30, 2009

[...] no matter how comprehensive or affordable our health insurance is, we won’t be healthy without a good deal of personal commitment. But it’s unrealistic to expect people to purchase fruits and vegetables over less expensive grain products. As long as we continue to subsidize the grain products, they will continue to be less expensive and more widely available.

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And You Thought Gender Based Pricing Was Bad

by Jay September 29, 2009

[...] an insurance company called GuideOne Mutual actually had a question about “religious denomination.” And it seems that Atheists and Agnostics were charged more.

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Personal And Government Responsibility For Health Care

by Louise September 24, 2009

[...] So while we need to do a better job of stressing personal responsibility in health care, we also need to make sure that everyone has access to quality health care and a good catastrophic health insurance policy. The health care problems that we’re facing aren’t going to be solved by government alone, but they also aren’t going to be solved without any government action at all.

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Fines Are Not The Same Thing As Taxes

by Louise September 23, 2009

[...] Most people without health insurance aren’t uninsured by choice, and don’t need the threat of a fine to motivate them to try to get coverage. The fines are to motivate people who can afford health insurance but would otherwise choose to go without (potentially transferring the cost of a significant emergency room bill onto the population that does pay for health insurance). [...]

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Colorado Senator Morgan Carroll On Health Insurance

by Louise September 21, 2009

Colorado state senator Morgan Carroll has written a very persuasive article about why we should end gender-based pricing in the individual health insurance market. I agree that it makes more sense to average premiums across the entire population, but I also understand that doing so would mean a rate increase for men to offset the rate decrease for women. [...]

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Why Mandatory Health Insurance Makes Sense

by Louise September 17, 2009

[...] no matter how careful we are, we never really know what is around the bend when it comes to our health. Accidents can happen to even the healthiest people. Freak illnesses can strike otherwise healthy people. And when these situations arise for people who are uninsured, the cost is eventually borne by those who have health insurance.

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Emphasizing Science In Health Care Reform

by Louise September 16, 2009

[...] One of the problems facing our health care system is that there are so many people involved who are looking out for their own best interests, rather than what is best for the system as a whole and patients as individuals. The sheer force of the lobbying power that has descended on Washington this summer is evidence of that. [...]

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Illegal Immigrants And Health Care Reform

by Louise September 15, 2009

Both sides are fired up about this, and it’s a very contentious issue. We’ve already had the abortion issue get dragged into health care reform, and now illegal immigration has added more fuel to the fire. Some people might be uninterested in health care refom otherwise, but when you start talking about things like abortion and illegal immigration, it gets attention. [...]

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The Impact Of Medical Underwriting On Premiums

by Louise September 11, 2009

[...] Many proponents of a shift away from medical underwriting want to require everyone to carry health insurance. That would help spread the cost of care across a larger population, and would likely help to contain the price increase that we would see if medical underwriting were to cease. But my guess is that we would still see a rather dramatic increase in premiums.

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