One lone voice of common sense in Massachusetts. On the face of it, the connector looks like a market making mechanism. It allows citizens to buy from competiting plans and provides transparency in the costs. More restrictive plans like HMO's have lower premiums, giving individuals an incentive to economize on health care.

When you look deeper it readily becomes a regulatory agency. The "penalty" for not participating is far below the cost of insurance. While different plans have different costs there is only a moderate distinction based on the risk of the applicant. This is essentially community rating. The result was easily predictable. Great deal for the sick, lousy deal for the healthy (except for low income who receive significant subsidies) and much higher premiums than were anticipated.

• posted by Mike Bond
• April 1, 2008 @ 11:04 am
• Permalink

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