U.S. to Let Insurers Raise Fees for Sick Children

The Obama administration, aiming to encourage health insurance companies to offer child-only policies, said Wednesday that they could charge higher premiums for coverage of children with serious medical problems, if state law allowed it.

Now, on Wednesday, the administration, answering a question raised by many insurers, said they could charge higher premiums to sick children outside the open-enrollment period, if state laws allowed such underwriting, as many do.

www.nytimes.com...

This is fairly disgusting, Obama has proven again to be nothing more than a piece of....
In any case, what can be done here?

What is the solution?
Is there a solution pre-2012?

Children are the wealth of our future, I don't think they understand this.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


i'm so sick of seeing the government, banks, etc. kicking the people who are already down. it's very clear that the people behind these decisions don't have to worry about their own finances.

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
This is fairly disgusting, Obama has proven again to be nothing more than a piece of....
In any case, what can be done here?

What is the solution?
Is there a solution pre-2012?

Children are the wealth of our future, I don't think they understand this.

I am curious here. It is Obama's fault that insurance companies want to be jerks? Oh, it is his fault for allowing the free market to regulate itself? Help me out. I was pretty sure he was a fascist/socialist/dictator because of his Nazi-esque ObamaCare but this sounds like the problem is him allowing insurance companies to do what they want and what they want to do sucks.

The insurance companies should have gone bankrupt anyway because we should have had a National Insurance like Great Britain. Innocent kids who never made the decision to get sick in the first place now are being punished by insurance companies. Of course the rates will be highest for sick children since that is how the market works, not to say the market is morally wrong, the market doesn't have morals it goes by supply/demand.

That is why the health of citizens shouldn't be in the hands of the market in the first place. We should have a universal health care system where everyone is covered without any exceptions.

Here's an idea: Anyone who donates a significant amount of money to a candidate or a Politician already in office gets an automatic audit, which will be released to the public.

reply to post by Curiousisall


It is both actually. The desire to federalize the health insurance industry and take over 16% of the US economy was statist for sure (as was the taking over of GM, bailing out banks and the rest of the rubbish). What is happening now is an unintended consequence of incompetently drawn up legislation.

Obviously the insurance companys know that they will take a bath after the new law goes into effect which is why they are hammering everyone with increases in premiums now with the hope that somehow they will be able to get the raised premium amounts grandfathered.

The whole business is so corrupt and misguided that there is no way it can be successfully implemented. Talk to some doctors about this. Talk to your doctor. Reforming this system, which is in dire need of reform could have been simple and on one page with about 4 steps.

1. Allow for health insurance to be sold nationwide, not in these single state monopolies. A Geico model for health insurance.

2. disallow insurance firms from denying folks with pre-existing conditions

3. cap premium increases to the rate of inflation or some other standard like Libor

4. extend COBRA indefinately for folks who want/need it

Thats it.

Originally posted by dolphinfan
Obviously the insurance companys know that they will take a bath after the new law goes into effect

Uh...no.

I think it is great that you are so worried about the poor insurance companies. It is almost cute in a dying kitten sort of way. Take a bath? You believe that do you? Good boy. Good republican boy. Aetna raised rates about 400% but now they might have to pay for some treatment? Oh NO!!!!!

Sorry but pleas to my consideration for the plight of the poor insurance companies just fly right past me.