Saving Money on Health Insurance

2008-09-08 16:46:03 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Health & Fitness, Money & Finance)

Fort Worth, TX (WiredPRNews.com)—Why can’t individuals buy health insurance the same way they buy car insurance?

The process should be the same because both policies are based on risk pools. While some insurance firms sell policies to individuals – mostly those who are self-employed or have a small business – the monthly rates are high because they are based on large generalizations about risk pools. For instance, women aged 20-30 have a higher rate than males of the same age group because of childbearing. This trend reverses as men and women go over the age of 50.

The system that we have of employer-based health insurance should be an option that competes with individual health care policies. Basic economics says that competition lowers consumer price and increases quality and efficiency, which is why the market is ripe for insurers to be more aggressive in covering individuals.

The risk pools for health insurance, just like car insurance, will still exist but that simply means more opportunity for insurers. Auto insurance firms write policies for those with DWIs and multiple wrecks just as they do for those who’ve never had a traffic ticket. The difference is in the premium that the customer pays.

The same holds true for health insurance, where those with cancer, diabetes or other ailments would pay higher rates than those without those ailments. However, just as car insurance covers the policyholder when there is a wreck, the health care policy would cover those – regardless of how healthy they are—when a medical need arises.

Lower rates for those who agree to take periodic physicals and submit to screening for tobacco and excessive alcohol use would give the policyholder an incentive to exercise more, eat healthy foods and take better care of themselves.

Competition and choice are the only way to bring prices down and quality up. If the democrats win the White House in November, there will be a government-run health care monopoly that will deliver low quality, higher costs and less availability. Just look to Canada and the UK to see the results of failed state-run health care systems, where bureaucrats determine when and if you receive medical care. It takes the term ‘Big Brother’ to a new and horrific level.

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Jason Meeks · Filed Under Health & Fitness, Money & Finance