Chairman’s Blog
Unintended Consequences…
As most people will tell you, the purpose of insurance is to guard against a person being financially devastated by an occurrence, either natural or unnatural. The way insurance works is by collecting premiums over time and to spread the risk over as much time and people as possible. It is a form of risk management.To most Republican’s dismay, the Senate is poised to pass their version of “health care reform”. The bill, which still has to be voted on by the House, forbids an insurance company from excluding coverage to someone who has a pre-existing condition. The cost of this subsidy, of course, will be subsidized by the taxpayers.
Sounds humane, right?
Consider this. If the Federal Government, through our tax dollars, will force the insurance companies to take everyone regardless of pre-existing condition why would anyone want to buy insurance in the first place?
Work through this with me for a moment. Say you are a graduate, fresh out of college and starting to enter the job market. You are young and healthy. Wouldn’t it make more sense for you, and your family, to pay the U.S. government a fine of $750 rather than purchase a health insurance policy?
Now, let’s say this same person chooses not to purchase this policy for 15 years, which means he/she has not paid into the system except for a ‘penalty’ and then develops a debilitating disease. This person can now purchase a policy and be covered at the same rate as people who have been buying insurance for years? What happened to personal responsibility? This effectively puts the entire burden one one’s illness on the tax payers. Do you think taxes will go up or down? Do you think insurance premiums will go up or down?
How long do you think it will take until people realize they can skate by without buying insurance and then hit the taxpayers of this nation with the bill when they get sick?
This legislation has nothing to do with helping people. It has everything to do with redistribution of wealth.
