Each January, like clockwork, the local YMCA in Phoenix has an influx of new members, all having made a new year’s resolution to lose weight and get in shape. Each April, like clockwork, the machines become available once again, the vast majority of the new members letting life get in the way again until next January.
It is human nature. We start out with determination and resolve in whatever it is that needs to be changed, but the majority will lose interest in a short time.
Many fear, and some hope for, this to happen regarding the repeal of the new health care bill. Seven months until the next elections can be a lifetime when it comes to keeping folks engaged. Fortunately the topic at hand has a lot of interest for those in Arizona concerned that their health insurance is about to become that much more expensive.
Often the comparison is made that, “ObamaCare,” is very similar to, “RomneyCare.” The fact is that they are very similar, the President saying so just the other day, and much to the chagrin of Mr. Romney of Massachusetts. But there is another state that rarely is mentioned when it comes to health insurance reform, Kentucky.
Back in 1994 Kentucky, run by a Democrat controlled legislature, passed a law that forced the health insurance companies doing business in their state from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. The medical insurance companies were not allowed to charge higher rates to those with pre-existing conditions as well. Rational, healthy folk dropped their health insurance in droves, leaving the sickly behind. Within a short time premium rates increased by 165%. Within four years of the laws passage 40 health insurance companies left the state, leaving two behind. One of them closed their doors in 1999.
This is exactly what will happen with the new national health care reform bill. Those with Arizona health insurance will see less and less competition, and higher and higher premiums. It is human nature. Why pay for something such as health insurance when you can simply purchase it if and when you need to file a claim.
The game plan by this administration is to set things up for a single payer health plan run by the government. They have set up medical insurance companies to fail by allowing healthy people to drop their coverage without any enforceable penalty, thereby leaving policyholders that file many large claims. Once the insurance companies leave Arizona and other states, the Democrats will call for a public option. When the public option fails there will be a call for a single payer, the government.
The good news for those in Kentucky is that they finally repealed the law that caused so much trouble, but it took 10 years. We can learn from their experience, repealing portions at a time, not funding other parts, and be in a position to replace much of the national health care bill in a few years, not ten.
Arizonans must stay engaged on this topic, their Arizona health insurance is at risk. As I have mentioned in other blog entries, the only way to stop this huge mistake is to vote in November.
Michael Higgins
A health insurance broker in Arizona.
602.405.8769