http://thehealthcaremaze.us/2008/11/22/health-insurance-for-small-business/ A plea for a more rational system Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:40:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://thehealthcaremaze.us/2008/11/22/health-insurance-for-small-business/#comment-18 jimmy1920 Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:50:18 +0000 http://thehealthcaremaze.wordpress.com/?p=90#comment-18 Ken I am not sure that I fully understand your question. Equating the current health insurance status quo as a model for health insurance is like using Hurricane Katrina as a model for disaster relief. There is very little "insurance" in today's health insurance space. Most groups of any size are either self-insured or experienced rated. That is even more true with the (Republican} emphasis on high deductible plans and Health Savings Accounts. The only risk sharing is within the group and not across all groups. I think we are in agreement that what is really needed is a system that spreads the costs of health care across the entire population on some equitable basis. But I can see a viable health care reform proposal that has a role for the insurance companies. But they would need to be invisible, as they are today in their roles as Medicare intermediaries. Ken
I am not sure that I fully understand your question.
Equating the current health insurance status quo as a model for health insurance is like using Hurricane Katrina as a model for disaster relief.
There is very little “insurance” in today’s health insurance space. Most groups of any size are either self-insured or experienced rated. That is even more true with the (Republican} emphasis on high deductible plans and Health Savings Accounts. The only risk sharing is within the group and not across all groups.
I think we are in agreement that what is really needed is a system that spreads the costs of health care across the entire population on some equitable basis.
But I can see a viable health care reform proposal that has a role for the insurance companies. But they would need to be invisible, as they are today in their roles as Medicare intermediaries.

]]> http://thehealthcaremaze.us/2008/11/22/health-insurance-for-small-business/#comment-17 Ken Ehrenthal Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:51:32 +0000 http://thehealthcaremaze.wordpress.com/?p=90#comment-17 Why are we still in the health Insurance paradigm? It makes no rational sense to insure the uninsurable. From birth to death we need health care. Probably we can insure against catistrphic events, but the larger the pool the more cost sharing. Of course all the population is the largest pool. A national health plan could obviate the need for any business large or small to incur employee health insurance costs. It cedrtainly would make our economy more competitive since most other developed nations have a system of national health care. Why are we still in the health Insurance paradigm? It makes no rational sense to insure the uninsurable. From birth to death we need health care. Probably we can insure against catistrphic events, but the larger the pool the more cost sharing. Of course all the population is the largest pool. A national health plan could obviate the need for any business large or small to incur employee health insurance costs. It cedrtainly would make our economy more competitive since most other developed nations have a system of national health care.

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