One of the first steps needs to be a law that allows all health insurance companies to sell policies across state lines. If Americans (and their employers) are free to shop for the best rates nationwide it’ll be good for us all. The increased competition will get rid of the price gougers and get rates down to a supply and demand happy medium.
And we need a caveat that allows for a la carte policies that don’t bundle in unneeded coverage. Men don’t need OBGYN coverage, old people don’t need insurance covering childbirth, etc.
Shift the control away from the feds and back to the patients, their doctors and the insurance companies.
“And we need a caveat that allows for a la carte policies that don’t bundle in unneeded coverage. Men don’t need OBGYN coverage, old people don’t need insurance covering childbirth, etc.”
I still do not understand why all of this is such a big deal. What does it cost me (male) to have OBGYN coverage? The cost of the ink and the paper it is printed on?
“la carte policies”
I’d love to have lung cancer coverage for $12/month, but no insurer would sell me just lung cancer coverage because that’s my #2 risk now.
My #1 risk is getting hit by a motor vehicle.
My proposal has limited “a la carte” features.
However, expect to have to buy a bundle of riders, for pretty much the same reason I can’t buy two channels of cable TV at $1 per channel per month.
If you just buy say up to $600/year of office care, you might have to pay a flat $35/month for it, the average cost of the insurer to cover it and a small profit.
If you buy it in a bundle, the average cost to you might drop to $300/year, because you might be overpaying $100/year for something else in the bundle that isn’t of average value to you.