Too many on the left seem to think that the goal of business is solely to do good works in the community. I happen to be someone who believes that a business does prosper by being a "good citizen". Nevertheless, there is a difference between treating customers and neighbors well - and committing hari kari.
Obamacare demands the latter - and business is retaliating.
Some of the country’s most prominent health insurance companies have decided to stop offering new child-only plans, rather than comply with rules in the new health-care law that will require such plans to start accepting children with preexisting medical conditions after Sept. 23.
The companies will continue to cover children who already have child-only policies. They will also accept children with preexisting conditions in new family policies.
Critics blast the insurers for their “immoral” decision, but they had little choice. The federal government mandate requires them to accept any child at any time, regardless of any pre-existing condition, but doesn’t yet require parents of healthy children to buy policies for them. It sets up an incentive system where this scenario will unfold repeatedly:
Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for AHIP, noted that insurers will be accepting children with preexisting conditions in other types of plans.
But, he said, extending such coverage in child-only policies “provides a very powerful incentive for a parent to wait until their child becomes very sick before purchasing coverage.”
Zirkelbach added that in 2014, when similar protections kick in for all individuals with preexisting conditions, virtually all Americans will be required to get health insurance.
With no such mandate currently in place, however, the result over the next several years could be that the pool of children insured by child-only plans would rapidly skew toward those with expensive medical bills, either bankrupting the plans or forcing insurers to make up their losses by substantially increasing premiums for all customers. And Zirkelbach said the effect could be compounded if only a few plans remain in the market.
Gee; companies actually want to make money and survive rather than commit hari kari. Who coulda thunk it?!?!?
...certainly not the brainiac's in DC, eh?
Posted by: BWP | Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 10:18 AM