Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Sunlight

The Senate Finance Committee has just released its recommendations for the revision of the US health system. This committee, headed by Senator Max Baucus, has commonly been called the Gang of Six, made up of 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

The committee has avoided the Federal government-run health system and instead is endorsing the establishment of non-profit, member-owned co-operatives. (Some days ago, I reported that Kay Bailey Hutchinson had warned that she believed that this would be an end run by the Administration and that after this idea fails (as it is expected to) the White House will ride in and be the White Knight that will take over! I believe Kay.

The proposed bill was described as follows:

• Everyone must buy insurance. If they don't, they will be fined
• Insurance companies must accept everyone regardless of health and cannot reject anyone.
• Insurance companies, after enjoying "great increase" in profitabiliy due to the new lives becoming insured under the new system will be taxed $6,000,000,000 per year.

I would love to know what expertise this committee drew on to come with these proposals. Very quickly here are my responses to this brief synopsis of the proposal:

If one of the most publicized reasons for people not owning health insurance is affordability, does it make sense to put an even greater financial burden on these same people.

Presently if an applicant has health issues, the insurance company prices for that additional potential claims risk. Taking that pricing ability away means that the healthy lives will subsidize the premium of the bad risks (the smokers, the overweight, those with serious pre-existing conditions).

One of the ways this program would be paid for would be by placing a $ Six (6) BILLION fee on the health carriers because of the "additional profits that the Committee believes will go to the carriers from the large influx of new, taxpayer-subsidized customers. If history is any guide, we know how profitable Social Security and Medicare has been since they were established. A wide open system like this one will cry out for further subsidizing by the Government!

The direct cost of this proposed program over the next 10 years is $856,000,000 savings (?) from cuts in government health programs of $507 Billion and 349 Billion in new taxes and fees!