3 ms·

"...how can insurers make money without having premiums go through the roof?" Easy. By getting health insurance "reform" passed in congress that requires by la

by lambda 17y ago

"...how can insurers make money without having premiums go through the roof?" Easy. By getting health insurance "reform" passed in congress that requires by law that all those young people get health insurance as well, without actually substantially changing anything else.

j_baker 17y ago
Making young people get healthcare is what the system needs. Health insurance companies can't make a profit (or break even) if they only insure the sick people. In all honesty though, I think health insurance companies should all be required to be not-for-profit. That's how Germany and japan's systems work. They have their own problems, but they're vastly better than ours.
- thomas11 17y ago
  Switzerland's system is for-profit, but otherwise pretty-much the same than Germany's or Japan's, and it works just as well. The two crucial points are that everyone in the country is required by law to have health insurance (thus distributing the cost), and that if a company offers health insurance, they have to accept anyone who wants it (thus preventing cheap plans for the healthy and outrageously expensive ones for the sick). IMO, these two provisions make the system work well. And even though it's government intervention, it actually makes the market more competitive by leveling the playing field: all insurance companies have to compete with each other.
  - sethg 17y ago
    IIRC the Swiss government requires all insurers to offer plans with a certain baseline level of coverage, and the insurers aren’t allowed to make a profit on those plans. The profit comes from plans that offer goodies above and beyond the baseline.
    - thomas11 17y ago
      I think they are allowed to make a profit on the baseline insurance, they just usually don't in order to attract people with low rates. On the website of the Bundesamt fuer Gesundheit and on Wikipedia I couldn't find any mention of such a regulation. It wouldn't make a big difference anyway, as you say, the profit comes from the extras (and from having an efficient administration!).
  - j_baker 17y ago
    Actually, I seem to recall reading somewhere that after the US, Switzerland pays the most for healthcare. That said, I doubt we'll be able to remove profit from health insurance companies in the near future, so it's kind of a moot point. :-)
    - thomas11 17y ago
      Wow, according to some quick googling that's true. I didn't expect that at all, as everyone here is paying very little for their health insurance. A basic one with no frills costs you about 250 CHF =~ 250 USD per month, and that's with some of the highest salaries in Europe. So the rest of the spending must be government subsidies for people with low income and the hospital funding, which the government partly pays. With taxes being lower than in most Western European countries, it's still surprising.

by lambda 17y ago

j_baker 17y ago

Making young people get healthcare is what the system needs. Health insurance companies can't make a profit (or break even) if they only insure the sick people. In all honesty though, I think health insurance companies should all be required to be not-for-profit. That's how Germany and japan's systems work. They have their own problems, but they're vastly better than ours.

thomas11 17y ago
Switzerland's system is for-profit, but otherwise pretty-much the same than Germany's or Japan's, and it works just as well. The two crucial points are that everyone in the country is required by law to have health insurance (thus distributing the cost), and that if a company offers health insurance, they have to accept anyone who wants it (thus preventing cheap plans for the healthy and outrageously expensive ones for the sick). IMO, these two provisions make the system work well. And even though it's government intervention, it actually makes the market more competitive by leveling the playing field: all insurance companies have to compete with each other.
- sethg 17y ago
  IIRC the Swiss government requires all insurers to offer plans with a certain baseline level of coverage, and the insurers aren’t allowed to make a profit on those plans. The profit comes from plans that offer goodies above and beyond the baseline.
  - thomas11 17y ago
    I think they are allowed to make a profit on the baseline insurance, they just usually don't in order to attract people with low rates. On the website of the Bundesamt fuer Gesundheit and on Wikipedia I couldn't find any mention of such a regulation. It wouldn't make a big difference anyway, as you say, the profit comes from the extras (and from having an efficient administration!).
- j_baker 17y ago
  Actually, I seem to recall reading somewhere that after the US, Switzerland pays the most for healthcare. That said, I doubt we'll be able to remove profit from health insurance companies in the near future, so it's kind of a moot point. :-)
  - thomas11 17y ago
    Wow, according to some quick googling that's true. I didn't expect that at all, as everyone here is paying very little for their health insurance. A basic one with no frills costs you about 250 CHF =~ 250 USD per month, and that's with some of the highest salaries in Europe. So the rest of the spending must be government subsidies for people with low income and the hospital funding, which the government partly pays. With taxes being lower than in most Western European countries, it's still surprising.