Special Report on Tiered Health Care & "Insurance - Lite"

[OzarkDem]

from MAMM Magazine.

"The trend, often labeled "consumer-driven" care, is tied to a theory that patients forced to spend a lot of out-of-pocket money will likely seek less treatment, pushing the total cost of medicine down. But consumer advocates call the concept antipatient, and are up in arms about its newest incarnation, the health savings account. In this system, consumers agree to high deductibles and copays, but also get to save the unspent portion of the deductible in a personal, tax-free account. Health savings plans might make a lot of sense—for people who will never get seriously sick. But signing on for this plan means placing a bet that you won't get cancer or other long-term disease.

Whether "insurance lite" is served up through a health savings plan or another product, porous coverage defines the risky terrain inhabited by Vera-Garcia and other residents of tier three. Vera-Garcia's policy, purchased after she heard a commercial for it on the radio, was riddled with caps and deductibles. "Everything in the hospital had a cap," she says. "The anesthesiologist. The labs. Even the bed had a cap. They had a deductible of $3,000 for every time I walked through the door."

http://www.mamm.com/highlight2.php

[justice1]

1. Health accounts are nothing but a tax shelter for the rich. nt

[OzarkDem]

2. Agree, same with AHP's.

and the latest proposal - Association Health Plans or AHP's are even more dangerous. They allow insurer's to circumvent state regulations and sell health plans that cover almost nothing.

That's why I criticized the Mass plan in another thread - it has the potential to do the same thing - allows insurance companies to sell "insurance-lite" and requires everyone to buy it.