re: Insuring pre-existing conditions

My biggest issue with the ACA is it takes a really bad system (health insurance) and expands it to more people.

We need to take a hard look at how we deal with healthcare costs in this country.

The monthly EOB statements I get from my insurance company are always fun to read. Say my kid gets sick and has the flu. The "charge" - what the doctor charges, the cost of the flu test, etc, might be $325. Of course, there is a negotiated rate of say, $80. Of that $80, I pay a co-pay of $15, and the blue company pays $65.

Is there any other part of society that "insurance" works in this way? Health insurance has basically become, in addition to cost-shifting, a discount card.

To me, the true cost of the doctor visit is somewhere close to $80. Just charge me that $80, and let me move on. I'll keep insurance for the bigger things.

The problem is, there is no cost clarity whatsoever in health care. We don't know what anything costs. We can't comparison shop. We can't get estimates (most of the time).

The only way we are going to fix health care is to blow the payment system up and try something else.

As far as pre-exisiting conditions... look at it this way. A safe driver pays less than a driver with 5 tickets. I'm ok with that. The driver with 5 tickets made some mistakes and should pay a price until their driving improves.

Most medical conditions, though, are not the result of choices.