Better Health - Latest Comments in Hawaii Learns Tough Lession: Free Childrens Health Insurance Program Abused By Wealthy Parents

Re: Hawaii Learns Tough Lession: Free Childrens Health Insurance Program Abused By Wealthy Parents

Aviva — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:46:05 -0000

Did parents who's kids were previously enrolled in the $55/month plan go for the free plan because it provided more comprehensive coverage? What private medical insurer would give adequate coverage for $55/month? Was it catastrophic coverage, perhaps? Or...?

I suspect there's more to the story than we're learning in this blog post.

If I'm wrong, I still believe the question must be asked (and answered):

Were there any extenuating circumstances ~ morally and pragmatically valid circumstances ~ that led parents to reasonably trade $55/month coverage for free coverage (in violation of the free program's mission)?

Or were they simply being greedy, as most humans are wont to be when freebies are readily at hand?

Finally, I would ask: Was the free program administered responsibly? I suspect not. Otherwise, how could kids with existing (allegedly adequate) coverage pass through "due diligence" and screening to qualify for free coverage?

Who qualified these "85%" of enrollees who ~ it turns out much, much later, unbeknownst to the free program's leadership ~ already had perfectly good, affordably-priced insurance?

It took me two full months of tests and trials and waiting to get disapproved for Vermont's VHAP program (for unemployed and low-income residents) and approved for their Catamount program (for slightly less poverty-stricken unemployed and working-poor folks).

If Vermont can put me through a two-month mill (and I still don't have insurance yet; enrollment will take another month, and I'll have to wait 12 months for treatment of pre-existing conditions), why couldn't Hawaii's free program have been more rigorous in its application/approval processes?

Re: Hawaii Learns Tough Lession: Free Childrens Health Insurance Program Abused By Wealthy Parents

Aviva — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:27:31 -0000

I suspect there's more to the story than we're learning in this blog post.

If I'm wrong, I still believe the question must be asked (and answered):

Or were they simply being greedy, as most humans are wont to be when freebies are readily at hand?

Who qualified these "85%" of enrollees who ~ it turns out much, much later, unbeknownst to the free program's leadership ~ already had perfectly good, affordably-priced insurance?

Re: Hawaii Learns Tough Lession: Free Childrens Health Insurance Program Abused By Wealthy Parents

Meagan — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:51:35 -0000

Great post. It's great to see bloggers continue to focus on health care as we approach next week's election. It is, without a doubt, an important and complex issue. Did you know that the federal government spends nearly $700 billion annually on health care? Or that the private sector costs an estimated $1.1 trillion each year?

Here at Public Agenda we're put together an informative non-partisan guide that focuses on the facts and on the plethora of perspectives surrounding the health care debate in America. You can learn more about health care statistics by visiting publicagenda.org/citizen/el... and feel free to contact us with any questions.