Health Insurance

The cost of health insurance should be based on coverage and risk. It should not be based on age, but should be based on health. The vast majority of US citizens get their health insurance through their employer plans. Those who don’t have this would need individual coverage.

Consumers should be able to select coverage based on need. 50% of the US population is considered “healthy” regardless of age and their health care bills amount to 5% of all healthcare spending.

Healthy consumers should want “stop-loss” coverage for expenses above $5,000. Obama called this “house insurance”, because it protected consumers from catastrophic expenses that would require them to sell their house to pay their hospital bill.  The average cost for this coverage was $3000 per year per individual from 2003 to 2008 for a 60 year old.

Coverage for “medically necessary” rescue and repair would be the common coverage for most customers. Diagnostic X-Ray and Lab coverage usually accompanies hospital insurance.  Customers are likely to want to be able to buy insurance with $1 million lifetime maximums to lower the premium cost. This is the traditional “Major Medical” coverage that was available before Obamacare.

Other coverages should be optional. This includes Maternity and Newborn medical risk. This would only apply to women during their fertile years. Another is addiction treatment that should include a lifetime maximum.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader