tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post5660421643417757948..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: Medicare at WillAndrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-72712774199193349382019-04-23T11:15:37.804-04:002019-04-23T11:15:37.804-04:00You are on a good track here. Let me pose a few ke...You are on a good track here. Let me pose a few key issues that would come up:<br /><br />1. Initial pricing<br /><br />Would the premium be $1,000 a month, which is about what Medicare costs for seniors?<br />Or would the cost be scaled down every 5 years, something like that? What would be charged for kids?<br /><br />2. Renewal pricing<br /><br />Every federal health program in history has had higher than expected costs in the first years. This one will be no exception. Medicare will appeal to those who burn through their deductible each year, and those who want to visit the Mayo Clinic and cannot do so on their current plan.<br /><br />Will premiums be raised actuarially, as private insurers do, or will they be raised politically as Medicare does?<br /><br />3. Interaction with the employer market<br /><br />I assume that employers with stingier plans (high deductibles, narrow networks, not covering spouses) will lose the most participants to Medicare.<br /><br />Which is probably fine with them. However the taxpayers might get restless. The subsidies will be large in some cases, as money which used to come from employers now comes from the government. Bob Hertzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08889826739646491269noreply@blogger.com