Re:Why 23andMe Terrifies Health Insurance Companies
by joosters on Wednesday November 27, 2013 @11:00AM
(#6808784)
(n.b. I'm no expert about the specifics of US healthcare law, my comments here are generalised)
You don't need the insurers to drop coverage, deny insurance based upon health status, or do any form of discrimination. The system still breaks if the consumers, the healthcare insurance buyers, know more.
If there are two healthcare plans on the market, one that covers the lurgy, and one that doesn't, then buyers with knowledge of their own health prospects will flock to the one that covers them best. The lurgy-covering plan will have to raise prices to remain viable.
And so those with the lurgy genes get penalised despite the insurers being completely regulated and without them breaking any of the rules that you have listed.
You don't need the insurers to drop coverage, deny insurance based upon health status, or do any form of discrimination. The system still breaks if the consumers, the healthcare insurance buyers, know more.
If there are two healthcare plans on the market, one that covers the lurgy, and one that doesn't, then buyers with knowledge of their own health prospects will flock to the one that covers them best. The lurgy-covering plan will have to raise prices to remain viable.
And so those with the lurgy genes get penalised despite the insurers being completely regulated and without them breaking any of the rules that you have listed.