Guaranteed Health Insurance – the True Costs
While you may be able to find insurance coverage for a pre-existing medical condition in certain circumstances and MediGap insurance without pre-existing conditions issues is available in most situations, forcing insurance companies to insure all comers would prove disastrous to our present system.
About a decade or so ago the State of New York forced the insurance companies to insure everyone regardless of their medical history. What happened? Almost all of the health insurance companies serving the non-group market fled the state. The remaining providers were forced to raise their rates beyond an amount that most could afford.
Basically what happened was that sicker people started buying health insurance policies. They cost the insurance companies more than they paid in. This forced the companies to raise their rates. This meant that fewer people could afford to keep their coverage. Those that were already sick squeezed their budgets tighter to keep their coverage when they could. This meant that more healthy people dropped their coverage than unhealthy people did. The companies raised their rates again. This cycle continued and continued.
Guaranteed medical insurance will only work when there is universal health insurance. When healthier people are allowed to opt out of the system, the rates just go up and up.