I’ll admit the Affordable Care Act wasn’t my preferred method of implementing health care reform in our country, but this is certainly encouraging news about health insurance premiums under the markets set up through the Affordable Care Act.
Yesterday, Covered California—the name given to the healthcare exchange created pursuant to the Affordable Care Act that will serve the largest population of insured citizens in the nation—released the premium rates submitted by participating health insurance companies for the three health insurance program categories (bronze, silver and gold) established by the Affordable Care Act, along with the catastrophic policy created for and available to those under the age of 30.
Upon reviewing the data, I was indeed shocked by the proposed premium rates—but not in the way you might expect. The jolt that I was experiencing was not the result of the predicted out-of-control premium costs but the shock of rates far lower than what I expected—even at the lowest end of the age scale.
Not my favored reform approach either. A market-based solution to health care would not be my preference. Ever the voice of dissent, I have to say while the preliminary news looks promising, I suspect that promise will be short-lived. If we’ve learned anything about the competitive principle, it is that prices may be driven down in the short term when competition initially intensifies, but in the long term prices rise higher and stabilize higher. I also find it notably disturbing that the Heritage Foundation framework places the burden of obtaining low premiums on the citizen. The paradox of choice, once again, transects the distinction between citizen and consumer.
PJ’s concerns are legitimate and experience bears out this result. The enemy is the corporate consortiums that develop and begin to influence regulation. Often one company becomes so interspersed with government it (he or she?) gains a “too big to fail” or “above the law” designation; e.g. Microsoft. #movetoamend.org