Comments on: PRESIDENTIAL TRUTH TRAMPLING

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:26:50 +0000

Not entirely accurate, Steve. It is not uncommon for new members of group plans to have 1-year waiting periods for prex if they did not have prior creditable coverage. I know because I used to deal with that problem day in and day out in customer service for a very large private health insurance company.

By: Al D'Anna

Al D'Anna — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:08:03 +0000

My wife and I are in our early 61/63 and retired. No pension. We’re both healthy but I had skin cancer and she’s had some colon issues over the years. These are our pre-existing conditions. No Insurer will cover us on the individual market. So we spent 18 mo. on COBRA at 12,000/yr and are now paying 30,0000/yr for Aetna guarantee issue with 5,000 deductible. There is no competition to choose from even though we have never been without health insurance. We understood this situation going into retirement but the system has us where it wants us and they are getting all they can out of us. We should have one group comprised of US citizens.

By: Carl Strohmeyer

Carl Strohmeyer — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:51:45 +0000

I think the last comment does some up the problem with the status quo quite well (especially the point of persons being essentially “trapped” in jobs due to medical care needs as I know this to be true for many friends/family).

We need a plan that addresses this problem, maybe even taking employers out of the healthy care insurance providing business.
However the intrusive government takeover is certainly not the answer, it will only make things worse, especially for the ill with tough choices to be made, and that should not be made by a bureaucrat. I know when my son was diagnosed with a rare problem (that left him on a machine for much of his first year of life); I was glad that we were able to see the one doctor who specialized in his problem at Huntington Memorial Hospital (Pasadena, CA) without having to go through a bureaucrat of any sort.

By: Leanne

Leanne — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:07:54 +0000

Well, herein lies the problem. A lot of people cannot rely on healthcare provided by their employers. It has kept some people in jobs that they would otherwise have left years ago. Everyone should be able to have healthcare coverage no matter what their condition. Affordable healthcare coverage.

By: Carl Strohmeyer

Carl Strohmeyer — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:11:26 +0000

Excellent post!

I appreciate the referral to this blog by a friend/classmate from my high school (Los Altos, in Hacienda Heights CA).

What bothers me about this take over is that the media is not even giving the “other side” of this debate, painting those opposed as mean people and calling these persons liars about subjects such as “Death Panels”, which the house bill essentially spells out by rationing health care. As well statements in this same vein of thought by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health adviser to President Barack Obama are very disconcerting.

This does not mean that there are not problems with the status quo, such as those who attempt to get insurance and are disqualified for pre-existing conditions (I know my wife went through this 15 years ago based on an insurance underwriters examination of my wife’s medical history and this person made incorrect statements that we had to finally bring qualified medical evidence to dispute this unqualified person’s decision). However the likely rationing of health care by even less qualified bureaucrats will likely make this look like “a walk in the park”.

I think your point: “Nonetheless, excluding people from insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions—with necessary rescission enforcement—is a key barrier to getting to a market-based solution for our health care system. But it can be entirely resolved by regulatory reforms that will allow insurers profitably to enroll everyone individually. And such regulations themselves needn’t cost the government an additional dime.”

I also think Tort reform will go a long way in resolving some of the problems with our medical system.