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House health reform bill does not end age discrimination
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced passage of the House bill which continues to allow "age rating."
It’s called “age rating.” The insurance companies say they have to have to have it to maintain fiscal viability. Congress tried to remove it.
The White House and the House of Congress now say they are it is committed to a 2 to 1 ratio. The House bill currently has a 2 to 1 ratio.
The Senate which passed the bill proposed by the Finance Committee would allow a 4 to 1 ratio.
What does that all mean?
It means that in most states, as you get older, you will pay more for health insurance. How much more depends on the final ratio.
If a policy holder is under 30 and pays $450 a month for health insurance, the same policy will cost an individual in the 60-64 year old age bracket $900 a month. If the ratio were 4 to 1, the same policy would cost 60-64 year old $1800 a month in premium.
It’s a fact of insurance company math. The older you are the more you pay. It does not matter if you are healthier and take better care of yourself then someone younger, age is the only consideration.
The majority of states allow “age rating.”
The version of the House bill which passed last week allows a 2 to 1 ratio. The Senate will probably do the same. Older consumers will pay more, at least twice as much as younger policy holders on a sliding scale which goes up as you age.
Insurance companies, however, warn younger policy holders of increases if the 2 to 1 ratio becomes law. In fact, the industry has already calculated that if the 2 to 1 ratio is law, policy holders under 25 may see their premiums jump 90%. Every policy holder under 50 will see some incremental increase.
The affordability of premiums continues to be unresolved.
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