A Texas-Sized Health Care Failure

New York Times by Cappy McGarr | Oct. 6, 2009 (Opinion)

THE Senate Finance Committee has for the moment rejected the idea of creating a public health insurance plan. It’s difficult to see how Americans will be able to find good, affordable health insurance without one. But if we are to go forward without a public option, it is more important than ever to make sure that we get another part of health reform right: the exchanges, where it is envisioned that small businesses and people without employer-sponsored ... Full Story »

Posted by Kristin Gorski - via AllTop, NewsRack (Health Care), New York Times (Opinion), New York Times (Most Emailed), Opinion Source

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Fabrice Florin
3.8
 by Fabrice Florin - Oct. 6, 2009

Insightful opinion about the viability of insurance exchanges proposed in the current health care bill, from the former chairman of the Texas Insurance Purchasing Alliance. The author shares candidly some of the lessons he learned from the failure of that project, along with a well-reasoned argument for requiring insurers to accept everyone and charge everyone the same rates regardless of health status. Thoughtful recommendations from an expert in this field.

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our exchange failed not because it wasn’t needed, and not because the concept wasn’t sound, but because it never attained a large enough market share to exert significant clout in the Texas insurance market. Private insurance companies, which could offer small-business policies both inside and outside the exchange, cherry-picked relentlessly, signing up all the small businesses with generally healthy employees and offloading the bad risks — companies with older or sicker employees — onto the exchange.

Cappy McGarr — president of a private equity firm, was the chairman of the Texas Insurance Purchasing Alliance

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