Well it looks like the health insurance companies may make it easier for Congress to come to a resolution on health care bills. There is a "death spiral" happening in California where insurance companies are forced to increase their rates due to the fact that healthy people are opting out of buying health insurance unless it is provided by their employer. This is the core issue behind reform -- health insurance must be available for everyone at a reasonable cost since it is not a discretionary consumer good. It's good for California to have healthy citizens and good for the country, but when the risk pool changes dramatically the market can only do one thing -- increase rates for those that are still buying.
It's interesting because insurance rates go up when you supposedly are a higher risk (for example more points on your driving record). In this case though insurance is going up simply because there is not enough people contributing to provide support for the costs of those that are in need now. What will happen to those healthy people when they get sick -- visit emergency rooms and expect free service?
People are acting already like there is a single payer system in place -- why not give them one already and ensure it is actually affordable and factored into the budget of government?
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