The Cost Of Health Insurance

Posted on July 8, 2012 | 2 comments

I am reading the morning’s internet today.  As usual these days, I’ve come across a lot of health insurance stuff.  And it got me to thinking.  If we’re now going to allow individuals to wait until they get sick to purchase health insurance, and force companies to sell insurance to folks with pre-existing conditions AND make it illegal to adjust premiums based on an individual’s health risk, there is only one thing that can happen.

The price will go up.

So, I’m gonna try and track the cost.

Right now, the laziest and best historical example I have is from a September 2009 post where I was discussing the healthcare debate:

Ah, here’s one.  $5000 deductible, Office visits are free after the deductible.  0% coinsurance.  149 a month.  Oh yeah, and you can have an HSA.

Another:  $5000 deductible, $15 office visits and 0% coinsurance.  $229 a month.

One more:  $1250 deductible, office visits are not covered and the coinsurance is 20%.  $253 a month.

I was quoting from ehealthinsurance  The above example is for a 52 year  old man in Greensboro, NC who doesn’t smoke.

Let’s see what that costs today.

$5,000 deductible, 0% coinsurance, Office visits are free after deductible:

$132.00 per month.

Before Obamacare is implemented, the price of insurance has gone DOWN $17 a month.  However, it seems to be on a policy by policy basis.  The $1,250 – 20% – No Dr. visits plan?

$292.00 a month.

Now, how expensive in insurance for a 30 year man in the same ZIP?

The plan that offers $5,000 – 0% -No charge after deductible?

$62.24

The plan with the lowest deductible that is the cheapest looks like this:

$2,500 – 30% – $40 office visits:

$99.40 a month.

First, insurance isn’t that expensive today.  I may not be very happy with a plan that offers a deductible as high as $5,000, but remember, we’re crafting a policy that protects against the #1 liberal complain, medical care shouldn’t force someone into bankruptcy.  And a brake at 5k will do just that.

Let’s watch the policies in Greensboro’s 27403 ZIP code.

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Posted in Health Care

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The Mandate And The Cost Of Insurance

Posted on July 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

Let’s set aside the debate on whether or not the mandate represents a penalty or a tax.  In many ways, it doesn’t matter; the bill was made law, the law was challenged and the law remains the law.

A question occurred to me as I was watering failing to save my flowers Saturday:

Given that individuals are offered the choice of purchasing health insurance or paying a penalty, and that penalty is paid to the federal government of the United States, what will this do to health insurance premiums?

The answer is, of course, “Insurance premiums will go up.”

Individuals will make a value based decision on whether or not to purchase insurance or pay the penalty/tax.  The problem comes into play when you consider that the organization making the determination, and receiving the money, of how much that penalty/tax will be is NOT the same organization that is required to insure people who decide not to purchase insurance.

In short, the insurance company has to cover uninsured individuals while the government keeps the penalty/tax.  What this means to the insurance companies is that they have to cover uninsured people for free.  And since coverage of medical costs isn’t really free, they will have to raise the rates of everyone to cover those costs.  As those costs rise, more and more Americans will conduct value propositions and conclude that purchasing insurance isn’t worth it.

And costs will rise.

And costs will rise.

And costs will rise.

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Posted in Economics, Government, Health Care

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California’s Bullet Train Folley

Posted on July 7, 2012 | 6 comments

The California senate voted on Friday to begin work on a bullet train:

 (Reuters) – California lawmakers gave a nod of approval to a high-speed rail plan on Friday in a make-or-break vote for $8 billion in funding to start construction on a 130-mile section of track through the state’s central agricultural heartland.

I have to admit that I’m thoroughly perplexed by the fascination with mass transit in general and high speed rail in particular.  I don’t understand the whole religion surrounding this thing.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Railroads, in their time, helped to build this country.  They greatly reduced the time it took to get from one place to another and brought prosperity where ever they were built.  My little town in Minnesota was a railroad town.  Further, I love trains.  I love watching ’em, I love pictures of ’em and I love going to see train museums.

However, I don’t think that this is a love of trains that’s driving this.  I think it’s a combination of a couple of things:

  1. The “Green Movement”
  2. A desire to get people around more efficiently

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love efficiency.  I would be very much in favor of supporting an infrastructure that was able to move more people in less time for less money.  And if we can do that, I think that we should.  Additionally, I resonate with the “efficiency” claims of the “Green Movement.”

In short, if we are, really, able to create a transportation model that gets people from here to there better than what we have now, and that includes cost, you have my vote.

So here’s the question:

How expensive would a train system have to be in order for the most liberal supporter say, “It’s just not worth it.”

Would it be $5.00 a ticket?  Maybe $15?  If the ticket were to cost, say $60, would you still support high speed rail?

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Posted in States Behaving Badly, Transportation

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America: Of Things Good And Of Things Bad

Posted on July 6, 2012 | 3 comments

I’m home from Brooklyn, you could say “No Sleep ’till We Leave Brooklyn.”  The trip was great but tiring.  Home feels so good.

I woke up in my own bed this morning and was struck by how nice it was to do just that.  To be home in my space, with room and with comfort and with peace.  It would certainly be easy for those who disagree with me to find data, Europeans rank their happiness higher than we do, but I find the creature comforts America has to offer to be a significant satisfier.

In other words, it is better to be poor in America than it is to be at the median in other countries.

However, I am struck that this time of ours, this pleasant state may be peaking.  That the essence of what makes America America is fading.  It’s clear that we’re moving towards a more socialist-democracy favored by Western Europe.  A nation that feels it’s more important reign in individual liberty so that others may receive care and access to goods and services.

It’s hard to go back to my college self and reflect on how I felt about the issues of the day.  I certainly didn’t think about them through the lens of liberty and of limited government.  Rather, I simply went with my then gut.  I was certainly pleased when the minimum wage went up, but I also understood that as I raised the rate on my lawn mowing business I mowed less lawns.  I’ve always opposed taxation but understand that things like roads and cops and schools need to be payed for.  I had some very special teachers; people that shaped my life.  But I had some horrible horrible teachers that I knew had no business teaching.

Anyway, the me of today enjoys the rush of emotion I still get when I consider the incredible courage required to create the America of then.  And the me of today feels more and more like Dr. Chambless:

Somewhere on a country highway today I learned of the gutless assistance John Roberts gave the liberals on the Supreme Court in ruling that the federal government has the Constitutional right to tax all of us if we refuse to purchase something the government demands that we purchase.  Roberts said that the government cannot require us to buy health insurance but can “tax” us if we do not.

This means that if the government decides some day that a certain type of car is best in fighting global warming or that a certain type of school is best for our kids or that a certain type of food is best for our health that we will not have to buy the small car, go to the local school or buy carrots but can be taxed on these decisions to not partake of these goods.

Folks, I am sorry, but it is over for this country.

…

I believe Thomas Jefferson would say, “But of course” upon reading today’s Supreme Court decision.

The fact is, as we approach the 236th birthday of this dying experiment that it is somewhat of a miracle that a republic could have lasted this long.  The “makers” in our nation are now so outnumbered by the “takers” that we will most likely not be able to get back the liberty we have now lost.

Historians will record, with bewilderment, that the people who were given the gift of liberty on this Earth turned over their gift to the same forces that always destroy liberty to begin with.

And then this on his thoughts on July 4th:

Today was about celebrating the original gift, the concept, the idea of The United States of America.  It was about being joyful that we have had all of these years of relative liberty when compared to the rest of the world – and still have when looking around the globe today.It really does not matter what the future holds for America at this point. 

Every Founding Father who signed the letter to King George on that muggy day in Philadelphia must have known – or should have known – that the moment the ink from their courageous signatures dried it would herald the beginning of the end of their selfless sacrifice for posterity.

No nation that allows covetous men and women to vote can maintain a system of liberty and property rights.  Eventually, those who covet what others have – when allowed to vote – will engage in the abrogation of the rights of their fellowman.  It is inevitable, it is with us now and it will herald, as Ben Franklin said, “….the end of the republic.”

Those of us who still reside in America must realize that we live in a post-Constitution United States. When those among us who care about liberty come to grips with the aforementioned reality we can refocus our energies on delaying the inevitable end of this grand and glorious experiment with human liberty and limited government.

I agree.  It is my hope to delay this as long as we can so that one day my kids too can wake up and enjoy the fruits of America.

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Posted in Government, Liberty, Politics: National

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