Is it the right of the government to impose an obligation to buy a private product that costs $12,000 a year for a family of four?
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez claim they are close to a deal on healthcare reform that will require every Californian to prove they have a private health insurance policy -- but does not cap how much insurers can charge for it. Hillary Clinton's health plan, released last week, would require all Americans to have health insurance, also with no cap on premiums.
The goal of universal healthcare plans, including the one Clinton designed while first lady, has been to rein in waste and profiteering, then redistribute the savings to the public in the form of guaranteed healthcare. But these new "post-partisan" plans have been stripped of all effective cost containment. They simply force businesses, individuals and taxpayers to pick up the tab. Apparently, if you can't beat the medical-insurance complex, join it. If it passes, the new system could be in place next year.
Under the proposed California compromise, employers will have to pay a share, but the ultimate responsibility lies with the individual. Policies for the poor would be subsidized, but taxpayers surely would be overcharged to boost corporate profits: Insurance premiums have increased 78% since 2001, compared with a 17% increase in inflation.
Health insurance is so unaffordable today precisely because no one is watching costs. With regulation of all medical charges, insurance would be cheaper and people might want to buy it. But Sacramento politicians already refused to standardize what doctors, hospitals, drug companies and insurers charge.
Californians are ready for market reforms to make health insurance more available and affordable, including forcing insurers to price policies fairly and preventing them from denying coverage to less healthy patients. Sacramento legislators should make the system fairer, regulate healthcare costs, then expand subsidies for low-income families. They should fix the broken market, not foist it on the public.
Mandatory purchase is nothing but a sop to top health insurers, which have given more than $4 million in campaign contributions to Sacramento politicians since 2001. Health insurers have had a hard time selling their increasingly expensive and less generous policies. So their plan is to make the government the big stick to force more customers into this market.
