How Health Proposals Could Affect Americans Who Buy Their Own Insurance

This article describes the impact on several actual US persons and families of the health proposals.

The Uninsured
High Deductibles
High Out-of-pocket Costs
High Out-of-Network Fees
Sharp Premium Increases
Premiums Rose with Age
Pre-existing Conditions


(It's not likely to get better for most. Except for the insurance corporations.)



http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2009/September/08/individual-insurance.aspx


A Market 'Fundamentally Changed': How Health Proposals Could Affect Americans Who Buy Their Own Insurance


By Julie Appleby, KHN Staff Writer



.....the proposals, which come with an estimated trillion-dollar price tag over 10 years, wouldn't solve all the problems faced by the millions of people who buy their own coverage. Some could still face big out-of-pocket expenses. Others would earn too much to qualify for a subsidy. Premiums would probably continue to rise.

....


PREMIUMS ROSE WITH AGE
Robert Tollis, Hartford, Conn.
Soon after turning 50 in January, Tollis got an unwelcome surprise: His health insurance premium jumped to $575 from $367 a month. Thinking it was a mistake, Tollis called his insurer and was told he had just entered a new, more expensive age bracket.

To lower his monthly bill, Tollis asked whether he could switch from his current plan, which has a deductible of $1,500 a year, to one with a higher deductible. He was told he would have to apply for a new policy. When he did, he was rejected because he's HIV-positive. The bottom line: He can't buy a cheaper policy from the insurer he has been with for 10 years, and he'd probably be rejected by any other insurer. For now, he has kept his current coverage.

This summer, Connecticut insurance officials approved a rate increase that will allow his insurer to raise his rates by a further 16 percent in January. Tollis says that increase makes it unlikely that he'll be able to continue buying insurance.

"I haven't been uninsured for 30 years," he says. "I can't believe after 30 years of paying into the system they're going to force me to become uninsured."

What proposed reforms might do
People such as Tollis might not see such large increases in premiums if a health-care overhaul goes through. Currently, insurers often ratchet up premiums for people when they turn 45 or 50, policy experts say. Some states have limits on how big that increase can be, but most don't.
Under the House proposal, insurers could charge older customers no more than double what they charge younger ones. Insurers object, saying the result would be higher premiums for younger people; they want to be able to charge older people up to five times as much. The bar on rejecting applicants with preexisting medical conditions would also mean Tollis could shop around for more economical coverage.