[quote=GH]….If and I am approved for insurance, make the legal assumption the insurer has run ALL needed background investigations and concluded I am qualified for their plan, rather than having them deny my claim later after finding out I tried a cigarette in High School…[/quote]
GH, this is the way individuals bought medical insurance for themselves before “Obamacare.” The pricing of the premiums was ALSO based largely upon the individual’s prior health-care usage, reasons for that prior usage and their daily habits, past habits, current weight and a barrage of medical tests before deciding to underwrite.
Now, under “Obamacare,” even fit and well individuals are charged “extra” in their monthly premium to “even out” premiums for high-usage policyholders in their age groups who formerly were “uninsurable” due to pre-existing conditions. A large percentage of those “pre-existing conditions” were directly caused by the behavior of the (formerly uninsurable) individual.
There is a point where a monthly health premium becomes exorbitant, even for a high-usage person. My understanding is that beginning in 2014, these high monthly premiums (> $1,000 month for one individual) will be regulated under Obamacare …. that is, the insurance companies will be regulated as to how much they can charge for premiums for different categories of high-usage individuals. This will only serve to raise EVERY policyholder’s monthly premiums in a particular age group even MORE.
The insurance companies aren’t going to lose money so the money to pay for the “high users” medical bills has to come from somewhere.
