Inside: Congressional Testimony on The Healthcare Choice Act, H.R. 2335


What a mess. No wonder healthcare coverage in America is unraveling. In the recent New York Times article, Death by Insurance (subscription), Paul Krugman references comments (Wall Street Journal) from a doctor concerning 'the excess expenses he incurs trying to deal with 301 different private insurance plans. According to Dr. Brewer, he currently employs two full-time staff members for billing, and his two secretaries spend half their time collecting insurance information.' The sum of it: too much information results in no information. So it goes with the American healthcare consumer; plagued with the same. When you have 50 states, with 50 independent state controls, 50 different sets of mandates, 50 distinctly separate licensing and coverage requirements, all doing insurance business within the insulation of the 'no-compete' clause, the too much/no information syndrome mightily kicks in.

Is there a health insurance Expert in America? Information we can trust? Or is the business so tragically fragmented nationally that no one really knows for sure about anything? Is that why there are so many cockamamy viewpoints concerning America's healthcare sickness and its cure? Is it a terminal case of too much information results in no information?

Are the states that license standard non-employer-based family policies for four at $171 per month (table below) stupid or indifferent toward the healthcare needs of their residents? Or, are those of us that live in states that up the ante to over $700 per month for the same, luxuriating in the safe harbor of a smarter and more concerned state leadership?

Oh, yes, the issues are complex. Why would healthy New Jersey residents be allowed to purchase more cost-effective policies licenced in the state of California, when the State of New Jersey and its licencees would be stuck with the sicker ones who are left behind? Do we need that kind of protection from the "evil" health insurance companies? But tell us, if your business agenda mandates restrictions to certain consumers for purchasing in a way that you believe disadvantages others, are your offerings valid and legal? Could be, what you have is a felonious recipe for failure, millions uninsured and a healthcare system ready to hit the wall.
[globalEyeNews.eXtra.healthinsurance]





Subject:

Congressional Testimony on The Healthcare Choice Act, H.R. 2335


Extract:

Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committe on Energy and Commerce:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION on H.R. 2335

JUNE 28, 2005

Serial No. 109-23

Testimony:

David Gratzer, M.D., Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research


STATEMENT OF DAVID GRATZER

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee-- subcommittee. I am honored to testify today in these hearings on “The Health Care Choice Act” before the Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health. My name is David Gratzer. I am a physician and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute in New York. I’m speaking today in support of Congressman Shadegg’s efforts. The views I present are my own and do not necessarily represent those of the Manhattan Institute.

As you may know, insurance premiums vary greatly from state to state. eHealthInsurance, a leading online insurance brokerage, recently compared the cost of a standard family insurance policy ($2,000 deductible with a 20% co-insurance) across the nation’s 50 largest cities, involving some 4,000 insurance plans and 140 insurance companies. The results are startling. Consider: a non-employer-based family policy for four in Kansas City, Mo., costs about $170 per month while similar coverage in Boston tops more than $750 a month. (Please see the accompanying table, which further illustrates the range.)

Why the price difference? Many states dictate the type of services and providers. New York, for instance, requires that the services of a podiatrist be covered. It’s a commonly quoted statistic that the average person walks about 150,000 miles in a lifetime. Let’s hope the majority of this journey is on healthy, bunion-free feet. But should every insurance policy in the Empire State really be required to include podiatric services? Acupuncturists are mandated in 11 states, massage therapists in 4, osteopaths in 24, and chiropractors in 47, driving up the price of even the most basic insurance plans.

Some states have gone further. Laws force insurers to sell to any applicant (guaranteed issue) and at the same price, regardless of age or health (community rating). Faced with higher premiums for insurance they seldom use, the young and healthy drop their coverage, leaving an insurance pool of older, sicker people - and even higher premiums. After a decade of such political meddling, the average monthly cost of a family policy in New Jersey bests the monthly lease of a Ferrari. In such an environment, many insurance carriers choose not to do business; in Vermont, for example, just three companies sell to......More>>