tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826806328399358366.post2401369830663758873..comments2023-05-30T04:11:57.894-06:00Comments on Steam Powered Opinions: Medicare buy-inSteve Balbonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238259030777462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826806328399358366.post-81798887759913826762009-12-08T09:25:24.948-07:002009-12-08T09:25:24.948-07:00I agree that Medicare buy-in sounds like a good pa...I agree that Medicare buy-in sounds like a good part of the plan. For one, the systems that work well for the 65 plus population are also likely to work well for the 55 plus population, which has similar health care needs and often the same providers. When age 65 comes, the transition to Medicare is at that point seamless.<br /><br />Second, those 55 plus have the highest probability of needing care, the highest average cost of care, and the highest probability of needing uber-expensive catastrophic care. None of these facts work well with a traditional insurance model of health care. So long as insurance companies can set rates based on age, there is pressure on employers to discriminate on older workers and that increases as health insurance becomes a mandatory benefit. Similarly, the need to subsidize health insurance premiums for those age 55 or more who must get their own health insurance is highest because the cost of carying for them is so much greater. If insurers can't set rates based on age, it is in their interest to make their plans unfriendly in subtle red tape ways to older insureds.<br /><br />Finally, the number of people age fifty-five or more who have disabilities or an opportunity to retire is greatest of the under age sixty-five population. Yet, it is hard for people not in the workforce to get health insurance. Do we really want incentives for people who can otherwise afford to retire to work at King Soopers or Starbucks until age sixty-five because it is a more affordable way to get health insurance? Allowing people who are only working to get health insurance to retire with a Medicare buy-in may free up jobs for those hardest hit by unemployment these days.<br /><br />Notably, a Medicare buy-in also takes pressure of state Medicaid budgets, providing some crucial stimulus to states.Andrew Oh-Willekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02537151821869153861noreply@blogger.com