How private health insurers just blew their cover

[PETA]

Originally Posted by Hey Bubu

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature...ers/index.html

Background: The industry hates the idea that's emerged from the Senate Finance Committee of lowering penalties on younger and healthier people who don't buy insurance. Relying on an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers, insurers say this means new enrollees will be older and less healthy -- which will drive up costs. And, says the industry, these costs will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. Proposed taxes on high-priced "Cadillac" policies will also be passed on to consumers. As a result, premiums will rise faster and higher than the government projects.

It's an 11th-hour bombshell.

But the bomb went off under the insurers. The only reason these costs can be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums is because there's not enough competition among private insurers to force them to absorb the costs by becoming more efficient. Get it? Health insurers have just made the best argument yet about why a public insurance option is necessary.

There's too little competition so the government should get involved and undercut private insurers?

Wouldn't that have the tendency to drive competitors out of the market?

Why would more insurers enter the market in search of ever diminishing dollars?