It’s About the Math

I’ve written many times that the thing that I hated the most about a small business was shopping for group insurance. First, my needs were rarely the same as my employees and second, boy those choices were confusing. And, of course, the options were expensive. Sometimes, I would take a look at the individual insurance policies that I could find. They were cheaper and I was tempted. But then I looked into them in a little more detail. They had a flaw that was so epic it belonged in an Ancient Greek Homerian Epic Poem. These individual insurance policies were great until you got sick. That’s right, they charged a low fee and you felt like you were insured, but they could cancel you out as soon as you got sick. Now, I never bought any of those policies, but I have been on the other side dealing with a patient who was insured until he actually needed insurance.

Well, when they went about creating the Affordable Care Act someone decided that insurance that vanished on people when they got sick should disappear. Insurance that individuals buy would have the same protection as the group insurance that employers provide. When you read about the people who have lost their insurance, these are the people. A bad product has been removed from the market place. Sometimes I think that if Obama came out against sour milk, Fox news would rant about how he was taking away our rights to drink vile toxic beverages.

Here’s the problem. Insurance that will actually be there when you get sick is going to cost more than insurance that they can take away when you get sick. It’s not rocket science. If I can’t dump you the minute you cost too much, I’m going to be more expensive. Can’t get around that.

So, I’m sorry that people miss their cheap insurance. I guess that they liked the feeling of having insurance without having to pay. But I promise that when they have their first heart attack or breast lump, they will be happy to have these replacement policies.

Tomorrow will be another math day, so bring your pencils.