Hawaii offered universal child health care -- for seven months. Then it dropped the plan. Why? People (and employers) with private plans dumped them to ride the "cheaper" government train. One of Hawaii's health care administrators lamented, "I don't believe that was the intent of the program." And Hawaii is a small state, without nearly the number of "health insurance needy" as we have on the mainland.
Several New England states offer health care "reform," using most of the ideas floated by the Obama administration. Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts all have "guaranteed issue," forcing insurance companies to provide insurance to everybody -- regardless of an individual's health conditions. And insurers can't charge different rates based on factors such as a person's state of health, age or gender -- a policy called "community rating." Maine also offers a "public option" (a government-run plan with taxpayer-subsidized premiums that competes with private plans), and Massachusetts imposes an "individual mandate" that requires everyone to purchase insurance.
New England boasts that its number of uninsured has gone down (although not as much as predicted). But health care in New England now costs more than anywhere else in America. Many insurance companies just abandoned these states, resulting in less competition and higher premiums. As health care subsidies consume more and more of the states' budgets, they turn to higher taxes, rationing and, excuse please, cost containment.
The Council for Affordable Health Insurance is a research and advocacy organization that includes, among others, free-market-oriented health care providers. It examined current rates in Massachusetts, the only state with "individual mandate," "community rating" and "guaranteed issue." The cheapest plan available for a family of four -- with a $3,500 deductible -- is more than $9,000 a year, and the most expensive is more than $19,000 a year. This about doubles what families currently pay in most other states.
"Reformers" point to the "unfair" number of claims turned down by private insurers. But Medicare, as a percentage of claims filed, actually turns down more than do non-government carriers. According to the American Medical Association, Medicare turns down 6.85 percent of claim lines, followed by Aetna at 6.8, Anthem at 4.62, Health Net at 3.88, Cigna at 3.44, Coventry at 2.88 and UHC at 2.68. All private carriers combined averaged a denial rate of 4.05 percent, making Medicare's rejection rate 170 percent higher!
Hold on to your wallets.