The NY Times Tries -- And Fails -- To Protect Obamacare From Health Insurance 'Rate Shock'
By forbes.com 07/18/2013 16:19:00
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The NY Times Tries -- And Fails -- To Protect Obamacare From Health Insurance 'Rate Shock'
Yesterday, fans of Obamacare were cheering.
A front-page story in the New York Times announced that individuals shopping for health insurance in New York would see their premiums halved, based on figures released by the Andrew Cuomo administration. It was an “extraordinary decline” that “demonstrates the profound promise” of Obamacare, said one supporter of the law. But the cheerleaders are wrong. New York’s premiums will remain among the costliest in the nation, after Obamacare becomes fully operational. And the unique history of how the Empire State destroyed its individual health-insurance market—using policies quite similar to Obamacare’s—will translate, at best, to only a handful of other states.
We’ll start our discussion with a recounting of that tale, of the unflattering history of the individual health insurance market in New York state.
Mario Cuomo destroyed the New York insurance market
Our story begins in 1992, during the third term of Gov. Mario Cuomo, the liberal lion of his day. In July of that year, Gov. Cuomo signed into law the most draconian health insurance regulations drafted in recent times. Insurers were barred from charging different rates based on age, gender, or health or smoking status, what wonks will call pure community rating. In addition, insurers were not allowed to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, a.k.a. guaranteed issue. The state mandated that all plans cover a specified set of benefits, and restricted certain cost-sharing practices.
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http://www.presidentandceomagazine.com/finance-operations/4949-the-ny-times-tries-and-fails-to-protect-obamacare-from-health-insurance-rate-shock.html
