Just in case you’d forgotten what a slimebag business the health insurance industry has become, here’s something to remind you. Aetna, Wellpoint Inc. (which owns Blue Cross Blue Shield), and other major health insurance companies have suddenly stopped selling policies that are specifically meant for children. In that way, the insurers won’t have to comply with a part of the new federal health care law, going into effect Thursday, which bars them from rejecting kids with pre-existing medical conditions. Aetna and Blue Cross both operate in the Carolinas.
The health insurance companies’ latest change is under attack by legislators and health care advocates, who say more families will now have to enroll in public insurance programs, which are already under severe strain. At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs said it is “very unfortunate that insurance companies continue to make decisions on the backs of children and families that need their help.” Why, again, didn’t we go to a single-payer system and dump the health insurance sharks?
This article appears in Sep 21-27, 2010.
The law that bans insurance companies from rejecting child only policies makes it too easy for a parent to wait to buy insurance until AFTER the kid is sick. That in turn makes my (and your) insurance rates increase. You can’t go buy home owner’s insurance while your house is on fire.
A single payer system is not the answer. Do you really want your health insurance run by the government? When is the last time they’ve ever done anything efficiently and cost-effectively? The easiest solution would have been to allow health insurance companies to cross state lines and have an open, free market and competition among all health insurers.