Despite little more than a wash, rinse, repeat of the 1994 Contract with America, House Republicans today unveiled their Pledge to America [insert rolling eyes emoticon here]. Filled with the usual assortment of Tea Party catch phrases with which they hope to ride the tide to mid-term victory, these House Republicans are pretty much void of any conviction whatsoever.
Case in point is of course this juicy tidbit:
Ensure Access For Patients With Pre-Existing Conditions: Health care should be accessible for all, regardless of pre-existing conditions or past illnesses. We will expand state high-risk pools, reinsurance programs and reduce the cost of coverage. We will make it illegal for an insurance company to deny coverage to someone with prior coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition, eliminate annual and lifetime spending caps, and prevent insurers from dropping your coverage just because you get sick. We will incentivize states to develop innovative programs that lower premiums and reduce the number of uninsured Americans.
So long as the Republicans are committed to including the pre-existing condition portion within healthcare they will, not only concede the fundamental premise of Obama/Romney care, but they will fail miserably in their attempts at a discussion about health insurance.
Here's a little newsflash...insurance prices risk. Why do you suppose insurance rates for a 17 year old are higher than they are for 40 year old woman? Man in his fifties with high cholesterol and a bad ticker??? Sure bet that life insurance policy is gonna have a higher deductable.
That said, let's call this covering pre-existing conditions and guarantee issue bullshit (guarantee issue is essentially when someone waits until they have an accident and then decides to get insurance and actually pays the same rate as someone who's had a policy for sometime) what it is.
Another Bailout
Case in point is of course this juicy tidbit:
Ensure Access For Patients With Pre-Existing Conditions: Health care should be accessible for all, regardless of pre-existing conditions or past illnesses. We will expand state high-risk pools, reinsurance programs and reduce the cost of coverage. We will make it illegal for an insurance company to deny coverage to someone with prior coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition, eliminate annual and lifetime spending caps, and prevent insurers from dropping your coverage just because you get sick. We will incentivize states to develop innovative programs that lower premiums and reduce the number of uninsured Americans.
So long as the Republicans are committed to including the pre-existing condition portion within healthcare they will, not only concede the fundamental premise of Obama/Romney care, but they will fail miserably in their attempts at a discussion about health insurance.
Here's a little newsflash...insurance prices risk. Why do you suppose insurance rates for a 17 year old are higher than they are for 40 year old woman? Man in his fifties with high cholesterol and a bad ticker??? Sure bet that life insurance policy is gonna have a higher deductable.
That said, let's call this covering pre-existing conditions and guarantee issue bullshit (guarantee issue is essentially when someone waits until they have an accident and then decides to get insurance and actually pays the same rate as someone who's had a policy for sometime) what it is.
Another Bailout
2 comments:
We will make it illegal for an insurance company to deny coverage to someone with prior coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition
Already in place, I think, via HIPAA. Mr. AOW got his private health-insurance in that way -- at double the premium, never mind that he has had health insurance for the past 35 years.
I sat down and figured out that, over that period of 35 years, Mr. AOW, our employers, and I have paid in premiums over $1 million dollars into the health-insurance industry. We didn't wait until we got older to get coverage! And still Mr. AOW has double the monthly premium that I do. Thus far, I haven't heard anything about dealing with this unfairness from any political leaders.
little more than a wash, rinse, repeat of the 1994 Contract with America
I agree.
The GOP keeps looking to the Reagan model -- without a Ronald Reagan (charismatic leader).
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