Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger continues to advocate for a federal mandate that people have health insurance, in part because she sees it as the only way to stop companies from excluding coverage based on pre-existing conditions. “If we don’t require people to buy coverage, then they will just wait until they need it and then they can’t be excluded, and it will just drive up the cost for everybody,” Praeger said in Lawrence, adding that “you can’t buy homeowners’ insurance after your home is on fire.”
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18 Comments
There are other ways to do it besides what amounts to a “tax for being alive”. For example you could require people without insurance to invest in an interest-bearing health care bond, which would remain their property if unused, and could be drawn from as the person wishes for health care expenses or future insurance premiums if and when the person does decide to purchase insurance. The person would not be eligible for any insurance reimbursements until the bond is used up. This would encourage all the right behaviors – wellness activities, comparison shopping for health care services – while letting the person remain the owner of his or her money. The main difference to the individual financially between this and government insurance purchase mandates is that if the person never needs to use the bond until reaching Medicare age, he or she could simply cash it in; and if he dies prior to that, it would become part of the estate.
Praeger said in Lawrence, adding that “you can’t buy homeowners’ insurance after your home is on fire.”
Humans aren’t property. It’s against the law to buy them.
It’s not against the law to buy homes.
If the federal government is going to require insurance companies to insure everyone, regardless of pre existing condition, then it is logical that everyone be required to have insurance. If someone can provide a bond to pay for healthcare out of their own pocket, in essence be self insured, I guess that would be okay, but they should be forever liable for medical charges they might incur.
Talk of a mandate is kind of like putting the cart before the horse if there is no assurance that there would be real reform.
If the insurance companies do not change their practices then you are doing nothing more then requiring people to be drug addicts for the pushers.
Absolutely make them all pay. I pay. I have to buy car insurance too.
Don’t send those who refuse to buy insurance to jail. That defeats the purpose (and puts them immediately on the States medical insurance).
Instead, automatically and mandatorily deduct the costs for medical insurance or fine from their pay.
How does she propose to enforce it?
It is a mandate now to have car insurance but, the percentage of uninsured drivers in Kansas is higher than the uninsured Kansans in health care.
How does she propse to enforce it?
She was a Senator for several years and now Insurance for Commissioner for several years. What has she done to help? Nothing!
She will not let associations have a health plan, she will not let small business buy individual or family plans outside of a group plan for the employees even though it would be cheaper for them and allow the employee to have a portable plan if they should leave or get laid off from their job.
What has she done?
The biggest disservice to Americans was when they started mandating insurance. Sure, your bank should tell you to buy insurance if you have a lein on your car or house. But mandating liability coverages for car should never have happened. People should be held accountable for their roles if they have a wreck. Also remember it wasn’t so expensive to fix a car or house back then either.
Same with health insurance, the rates of our insurance didn’t start going thru the roof till we mandated insurance…insurance has their own lawyers who will fight this and that, and creates an environment where corporate lawyers are doing all the negotiation with insurance companies at the helm.
Go back to when NOBODY had health insurance.
Politicalmomma of course you know you are dreaming. Both insurances are here to stay.
She’s become quite the advocate and spokesman for her friends in the insurance industry. If it’s mandatory…somone’s gettin’ paid. Healthcare by gunpoint…an insurance salesman’s wet dream. Hell, it sells itself.
I see the ad there for Preferred Health Systems. As state insurance recipient, they sure know when to run the ad don’t they? I’m sitting here looking at the open enrollment benefits and how much each costs.
When my hubs worked in Wichita, we had Preferred Health Systems, and I never once had a problem with them. So yeah, they’re good insurance, but we also paid out the hind end for them.
Oh and don’t you worry folks, they certainly do have it broken down into smoking and non smoking- even though my husband is a non=smoker, we both get dinged for that. So I”m paying extra taxes, extra insurance, and putting out the price of cigarettes too. Just imagine how much extra buying power I could have if I wasn’t taxed thru the roof.
It is absurd that since I’ve been a smoker, I’ve seen the price go from 70 cents a pack to nearly 6 dollars a pack. Hey that’s about the same increase as health insurance premiums. If that puts it into perspective for you.
” I’ve seen the price go from 70 cents a pack to nearly 6 dollars a pack. Hey that’s about the same increase as health insurance premiums.”
Greedy evil Tobacco Company CEO’s…..
Ooops. I mean greedy evil US and State governments.
The state of KS is self insured on their health insurance plans for state employees.
The insurance companies are only helping them administerthe plan.
Call the state and ask them why they are raising your premiums?
No, Sebelius actually intervened when premiums were getting so high that employees were dumping their health insurance in droves.
The rates for us are more reasonable now- only around 200 for our health savings account and the insurance. That’s just for two of us. Not true for most of the rest of people seeking insurance.
If you ask me the health savings account had been a joke. Sure its great if you don’t have to use it.
This is a great opportunity to drastically reduce the number of abortions and their terrible effects on women and their families, as even some pro-abortion Democrats have aspired, by cutting off all taxpayer funding and medical insurance coverage of abortion.
Regular
Posted October 4, 2009 at 9:10 am | Permalink
Praeger said in Lawrence, adding that “you can’t buy homeowners’ insurance after your home is on fire.”
Humans aren’t property. It’s against the law to buy them.
It’s not against the law to buy homes.
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WHY do you constantly say totally stupid stuff like this??? You know damned well the issue is buying insutance… not buying people… You ysking your neds Reg??
ysking = taking (obviously)
neds = meds
Nobody is required to own a home, nobody is required to own a car. So any mandates for insurance regarding those, right or wrong, do not affect those who do not choose to own the object in question. The proposed health insurance mandate is a “tax on being alive”. The only way to avoid it will be to die.