Young Avoid New Health Plans

The Wall Street Journal has published an article titled "Young Avoid New Health Plans," and so far, they are the only ones I've found to point out this problem. The Affordable Health Care Act is supposed to run off of both the healthy and the sick. But what if the sick are the only ones buying in?

Of course, the article does point out that the sick are the only ones determined enough (at this point) to endure the endless problems with the healthcare.gov website. A few weeks ago, I attempted to get a quote for health insurance just for me (my husband is insured through the VA) and got half way through before I just gave up. The site lagged worse than my first dial-up connection in the 90's. Not only that, but it took five attempts at logging in just for it to allow me into the site.



I like that this article makes it clear that it is still early on in the process to be judging whether the system will have to jack prices to accommodate the lack of young, healthy, paying citizens enrolled. I also like that they get a quote from an Oregon senator touching on this point: if the website isn’t estimated to be fixed until the end of November, will we get an extension in time to enroll before our taxes will take the hit this next year?

For once, I don’t have to complain about lack of citation. This article talks to many insurance companies (and quotes them by name!) as well as citizens interested in signing up. And the website included something really helpful to me: an interactive sidebar that you can find the ‘lowest cost bronze plan’ for your state, county, and demographic. Though it doesn’t cover all the bases (I’m 22, the youngest option is 27), it told me that for in Chatham County, Georgia, for a 27 year old, I would pay $170.72 per month. It then says that the rates shown are the monthly premiums before subsidies. This is helpful to those who have been unable to get an idea of cost through the official website.

Despite the numbers involved in the article, I found the author made this situation easier to understand than previous attempts by other news sources. It made me realize how important this system is for some people with preexisting conditions, and even makes me wonder if it would help my dad who has to pay for daily injections to keep his cancer at bay. This is the first article to make me think: can this system work? Maybe!

What I wish this article did do, however, was take it a step further. What happens if there isn’t an even amount of people paying for policies and those who are able to get theirs for free? Will the rates skyrocket, like the prices through private insurers (oh yeah, you can keep your private insurance, all right) have been doing? Will the system collapse? Or does it matter? Where is the money going to come from? These are questions I wish that the article would either ask or suggest answers for.