Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Now, why do you need government to do this, beyond a mandate and a subsidy to those who can't afford it?
If there's a bureaucracy either way, would you prefer it to be federal employees or private sector cos.?
I just don't see why if it's private sector, having the government intervene beyond a mandate is likely to make things better. Unless you want to do it to advance a redistributive agenda, which is an entirely different matter.
The only thing that having it run by gov't is that you ensure 100% participation. But to those who say "I prefer not to join" I say fuck 'em, and refuse 'em at the ER door.
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But the gov't bureaucracy will grow anyway in monitoring who gets the subsidy since you can't get it if you are covered by an employer system, and that could be through a spouse filing separately or through a parent or whatever, and presumably COBRA would disqualify you for this catastrophic coverage so you can't just do it through a checkbox on W-2 for single uncomplicated people like me. And, not to open a can of worms, but isn't Medicare fairly well-run?
ETA just giving people money -- how would that work? Wouldn't you have to figure out what a reasonable catastrophic premium would be for each individual? Or do you give everyone the most it would cost? Or the least? Whatever you do, it will be an approximation. Also, this would provide an incentive for fly-by-night crap companies to sell "insurance" and then disappear with the premiums. This is already happening with places that market multiple employer plans to small businesses, who think they are getting a great deal. Note that multiple-employer (not multiemployer, which is union) plans are regulated by the states, not the feds, just like actual insurers.
