Over at the Wsj.com website they call attention to the problems and unintended consequences that the Massachusetts health care system produces.
Here’s a quote from the study they quoted:
Well, the returns are rolling in, and a useful case study comes from the community-based health plan Harvard-Pilgrim. CEO Charlie Baker reports that his company has seen an “astonishing” uptick in people buying coverage for a few months at a time, running up high medical bills, and then dumping the policy after treatment is completed and paid for. Harvard-Pilgrim estimates that between April 2008 and March 2009, about 40% of its new enrollees stayed with it for fewer than five months and on average incurred about $2,400 per person in monthly medical expenses. That’s about 600% higher than Harvard-Pilgrim would have otherwise expected.
This results from the fact that insurers have to cover pre-existing conditions while the penalty for not having insurance is only $900 making it cheaper to pay the fine than to pay for continuous coverage.
Imagine the negative impacts of 40% of an insurers pool only purchasing a few months of coverage while running up large medical costs will have on those who purchase continuous coverage.
This is a great example of the benefits of Federalism and states rights, other states can learn from the mistakes and/or failures of others states and make adjustments or avoid them entirely themselves.
All the more reason why we must NOT allow Obama and the Democrats create a centralized health care system.
