A Sick Economy

Sing it brother Drum:

For obvious reasons, health insurers have never been eager to write individual policies, and even in most group policies it's the employer who bears most of the risk. (If their claim rate goes up during the year, their premiums get bumped the next.) Even worse off are groups that allow its members the option of whether or not to join: they inevitably attract the sickest members in disproportionate numbers, leading to a "death spiral" that's explained well in the article [in the LA Times].

So today, with healthcare costs rising and the population getting older, policies for professional groups are becoming a thing of the past -- and individual policies are disappearing along with them. And without that, a lot of people simply can't afford to start up a company, work for a small business, or become self-employed. They're stuck. This is nuts, of course, but it's inevitable in any system of private healthcare. It's not that insurance companies are evil, it's just that they're in business to make money and you don't make any money insuring sick people. The fact that these are
the people most in need of insurance doesn't matter.

But it's still nuts. And that's why we need national healthcare.

Yep, I'll never go into business for myself for a lot of reasons but healthcare is chief among them. In fact (now don't laugh) I have a cutoff amount for lotto winnings below which I will keep my job because I don't want to lose health coverage.

The private sector is actually hurting the economy by assuming all responsibility for doling out heath coverage. This, of course, goes against the notion woven into the American soul (quite wrongly) that ANYTHING the government does, the private sector HAS TO be able to do better. Highways and health coverage (not healthcare) belie that notion.