cost controls & pre-existing conditions:

[amborin]

SEC. 2701. FAIR HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS.

‘(a) Prohibiting Discriminatory Premium Rates-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- With respect to the premium rate charged by a health insurance issuer for health insurance coverage offered in the individual or small group market--
‘(A) such rate shall vary with respect to the particular plan or coverage involved only by--
‘(i) whether such plan or coverage covers an individual or family;
‘(ii) rating area, as established in accordance with paragraph (2);
‘(iii) age, except that such rate shall not vary by more than 3 to 1 for adults (consistent with section 2707(c)); and
‘(iv) tobacco use, except that such rate shall not vary by more than 1.5 to 1; and
‘(B) such rate shall not vary with respect to the particular plan or coverage involved by any other factor not described in subparagraph (A).

".......So what that means is that if you can be charged more than three times as much, for exactly the same plan, as someone younger than you. So being older is a pre-existing condition. So is being a smoker.

By more than doubling the maximum penalties that companies can apply to employees who flunk medical evaluations, the legislation could put workers under intense financial pressure to lose weight, stop smoking or even lower their cholesterol....

In effect, they would permit insurers and employers to make coverage less affordable for people exhibiting risk factors for problems such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke."

snip

from Daily Kos

<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/17/815514/-Insurance-Reform-Pre-Existing-Conditions>


more on lack of cost controls here:

<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/17/815568/-Insurance-premiums,-lack-of-cost-controls,-and-the-great-Massachusetts-experiment>

[HillGal]

1. Thank You! this is my complaint, my insurance is high enough now, no way

can I pay what the CBO projects the cost of this plan is going to be, and people with pre-existing conditions won't benefit at all.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Smoking is a risk factor with enormous consequences for health...

But merely being older skates toward age discrimination.

[amborin]

3. yes, so is obesity and old age