I'm watching the Dylan Ratigan unit and for the thousandth time this week, he's mentioning the creation of a website where health insurers can compete for customers in a marketplace, allowing the free market to keep prices low. Not to single out Ratigan, but I believe this is a pitch for the Wyden-Bennett proposal in which people could choose from a "pool" of private plans.
These pools sort of already exist -- eHealthInsurance.com and the like. Basically, Priceline or Expedia for health insurance. And all they really do is compete to sell people "affordable" plans which actually turn out to be teaser premium rates attached to high deductibles and high co-insurance -- what generally amounts to Americans being "under-insured."
For example, I plugged in my family's information (again) at one of these sites and the first plan that came up was from Aetna. $288 monthly premium. But a whopping $5000 deductible and 20% co-insurance. Barring a catastrophic situation, my family wouldn't spend $5000 on medical costs in three years! So I'd be paying $288 per month -- more than any other monthly bill short of my mortgage -- and I'd still have to pay any medical expenses out of pocket up to this insane $5000 limit.
Maybe I'm missing something. Seriously. What's the difference between this great idea being pitched by Ratigan and others and the websites that already exist?
Adding... The Wyden-Bennett bill, by the way, includes individual mandates but doesn't include a public option. In other words, it forces everyone to buy private insurance. In other words, a gigantic pay day for the health insurance mafia.