Health Insurance for High-Risk Patients

Missouri legislators want to expand the state’s high risk health insurance pool:

The bill makes it easier to get into the high-risk pool. It also sets the maximum price for a high-risk policy at 135 percent of the market price for a similar policy for a healthy person, down from 170 percent now.

Losses on the high-risk pool are ultimately picked up by taxpayers.

There are two problems people with chronic conditions face:

1. Routine medical procedures for them are expensive.

2. Catastrophic insurance, to cover unexpected problems, is also expensive.

Subsidized insurance might be appropriate to address the second problem; the first problem should be solved in other ways. If people don’t have enough resources to pay for ongoing medical care, that could be covered by Medicaid. Health savings accounts could allow those with greater means to save and prepare for medical expenses they know they’ll face. Unfortunately, some patients will always be dependent on taxpayers for their medical care, but that shouldn’t be the default.