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I think something needs to be done to help people with pre-existing conditions.

I’m not sure what. I have a daughter with epilepsy, and this is a huge concern for me when she because an adult.

The pre-existing condition thing is a touchy subject. On the one hand, as you’ve experienced, it’s a pain in the rear for consumers. But on the other hand, there are folks out there that would take advantage of a situation if there were no pre-existing clauses and only purchase insurance when needed, then cancel the policy when not needed. That would drive insurance costs way up.

I don’t think we’ll ever see pre-existing condition clauses disappear altogether. But they do need to be relaxed ... a lot.

luckystarmom wrote:

Yeah but don’t be fooled. Repubs need to vote against anything they propose unless it is:

1. Tort Reform
2. Nationwide open competition.

I’ll agree with you on #1. Liability reform first and foremost.

Behind that, I would add as my highest priorities:

Medical Savings Accounts for everyone. Up to $5,000 per year tax free. Allow unused MSA balance to transfer to IRA tax free. This is an incentive to live well, minimize your medical expenses, shop around, etc.
No tax advantages at all for any insurance policy with a deductible under $2,500. Insurance should be for catastrophic events and risk pooling. It should not be a prepaid medical services plan.
Individuals get tax advantages for buying their own insurance. The same treatment that employers get today.
Sunset tax advantages for employers after 7 years. This moves everyone to their own personal private insurance plan. You are no longer dependent on your employer for health insurance.
Expand ERISA to allow interstate business associations to set up ERISA plans. This is one aspect of your second item. This allows, for example, auto dealerships to form a large pool through NADA and buy insurance as a large group. Any industry that has no national association would probably form one to take advantage of this.
Expand ERISA to allow interstate organizations with individual members to set up ERISA plans. This allows organizations like Kiwanis international to set up group plans for their members. Theoretically, an insurance company could start a nationwide club or organization to allow individuals to buy insurance this way. Nationwide could offer insurance through the "Dale Earnhardt Junior Fan Club" or whatever.

I really don’t like the “Allow citizens of one state to declare themselves exempt from their state’s laws and pick the laws of another state that they like better.” approach to interstate health insurance marketing. That seems like a scheme to undercut state authority and just override the laws of one state with laws from another state. That’s not what the interstate commerce clause is about.

luckystarmom wrote:

I think something needs to be done to help people with pre-existing conditions.

I’m not sure what. I have a daughter with epilepsy, and this is a huge concern for me when she because an adult.

I agree there is a problem here. I think the MSA and catastrophic coverage would help this. People like your daughter would still have out of pocket expenses for the deductibles, but returning insurance to a risk pooling business rather than prepaid services would reduce the cost for your daughter without unduly burdening everyone else.

I also think that lifetime caps are a problem for a few people, but that could be handled with state run “high risk catastrophe pools.” Insurers could contribute to the pool fund on a per policy premium basis, and over $250,000 per year or over $10,000,000 lifetime, people would draw from the pool fund instead of running out of coverage (or the state forcing the insurance companies to pay until they go broke). It could be almost like flood insurance, but I would rather it be privately funded than have the government involved.

From the desk of
cc2k: