iPF on Forbes: Will One Statistic Sink American Healthcare?

Over at Forbes.com, I write about the danger to the health of America contained in one little statistic buried within a 72-page report, ”Health Care Costs—From Birth to Death” published by the Health Care Cost Institute.

And while the article on Forbes focuses on one statistic, there is plenty of information in the report that should make it required reading among healthcare providers. The report is jammed with information that will be useful as well to patients, insurers, and federal and state governments.

The report contains one other statistic that should certainly raise eyebrows in the Obama administration. There are strong indications that early predictions regarding the mandatory insurance requirement may come true, namely that healthy young people will eschew insurance and for good reason–the actuaries found it will cost them more.

“The age-related premium policy established by CMS in its implementation of the Affordable Care Act will increase premiums for younger individuals and decrease them for older individuals purchasing individual health insurance,” the study found. “By analyzing the underlying costs per age for the population (both male and female) and comparing it to the new approach for individual coverage purchased in state-based exchanges, we found that premiums for individuals in their 20s will subsidize the cost of health insurance for individuals in their 60s.”

Keeping insurance prices affordable requires that healthy people buy insurance to offset the costs of those with chronic illnesses. But for young people, unless penalties for buying insurance have teeth the federal government will not be able to force them to spend more to subsidize the sick and the old.

Click here to read the full article on Forbes.com.