Bernard -- It sounds like you are against the bills that are being proposed by the Demo's right now. But if you are against them, let me ask you this:
What is the solution to the many uninsured people that are currently out there? Take the guy has no insurance. He has a catastrophic illness or injury. He requires a lot of medical care. He can't pay the bill. The hospital, the ambulance company, and the doctor all have to write off his bill. These costs don't just go away. They get passed on to people like me who have health insurance. This raises my annual premium. It's money out of my pocket.
If you are against the current proposals that fix this by forcing everyone to be insured, how do you propose we fix this problem?
Thanks.
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i thought my friend had some very good questions and wanted to share this with all my friends.
How the Freedom to Contract Protects Insurability
Paul Hsieh
In a free market, profit-seeking businessmen would likely sell insurance coverage to individuals with preexisting conditions for an appropriate price, just as they would seek to meet substantial demand for any service if profitable. However, in the unlikely event that some individuals sought to purchase a policy that covered preexisting conditions, and no insurer would sell them such a policy, they would still have a viable alternative. They would be free to form their own risk pool with other like-minded individuals willing to share those risks. They would be free to create their own insurance company.
In fact, many Americans have already formed private pools in which members voluntarily share each other's health-care costs. For instance, more than 100,000 American Christians are members of "health-care sharing ministries"—arrangements whereby members pay a monthly fee to the ministries, which in turn distribute that money to other members facing expensive medical bills. Such groups typically accept members who meet certain religious and lifestyle requirements regardless of preexisting medical conditions.
Unfortunately, these health-care sharing ministries currently cannot guarantee payments to their members, because the government would then treat them as insurance companies5 and subject them to myriad onerous state and federal regulations that specify what prices they may charge, what benefits they must offer, and which customers they must accept.6 The only thing preventing individuals from creating their own contractually binding risk pools today is the government...