Group Health Insurance for All?
December 2009
Of the many arguments both for and against health care legislation, the universal health coverage option seems to have been the most hotly contested.
However, the issue regarding whether or not we should offer a universal plan may have finally been settled.
In a recent article at the Wall Street Journal regarding
health care legislation, Senate Democrats are reported to have reached a "tentative" agreement regarding insurance that does not include universal health coverage.
Instead, it proposes a sort of
group health insurance collective designed to make health coverage both more affordable and easier to obtain.
The new plan would empower the government to implement a new "low-cost national health plan" similar to that enjoyed by federal employees and members of Congress.
This would be run by nonprofit entities, and would make insurance more affordable and available based on two factors: first the subsidizing of care for low-income individuals, and second the legal requirement to purchase
health coverage that would lower costs much as group health insurance plans do so.
Group health insurance features lower premiums and is easier to get because the odds are in the favor of the insurer. Not everyone in a group will fall ill, and the premiums paid by the healthy help to offset the costs accrued by the unhealthy.
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Group Health Insurance for All?
Did you know...
If all Americans are legally required to purchase some form of coverage, the nation would operate as one giant group coverage plan.
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If all Americans are legally required to purchase some form of coverage, the nation would operate as one giant group coverage plan.
The removal of the universal option from health care legislation will undoubtedly sting those more liberal Democrats adamant about including it in upcoming legislation.
However, in an effort to ease their pain, the same negotiations that led to the abandonment of the universal plan also resulted in a proposal to make Medicare available to Americans aged 55 and older, many of whom are now unemployed and unable to obtain health insurance.
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