Don’t demonize insurance companies. I know it’s tempting. After all, they are trying to make money off of people’s health. But guess what? We live in a capitalist society and this is the system we currently have. Some type of single payer (and yes there are many versions, just look at the different countries in the EU) may be the ultimate progressive goal. But we can’t get there from here overnight. In fact, the only way we can get there is probably by bringing the insurance industry along.
The success of Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act is due in no small part to insurer participation in the Medicaid marketplace. Insurers specializing in the Medicaid market are profitable, and that’s a good thing.
Who do you think covers most of the people on Medicaid and many on Medicare? Who has the expertise? State Medicaid agencies contract with insurers to cover Medicaid beneficiaries. The insurance companies take on the risks, not the states. Similarly, many Medicare recipients chose to be covered by Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers. Insurance companies are already deeply embedded in our so-called “entitlement” programs.
Right now everyone is worried about how to keep insurers in the individual market. The ACA originally provided several mechanism to help insurers deal with the uncertainty of the individual marketplace, including Risk Adjustments, Reinsurance, and Risk Corridors. You can find a good explanation of these three programs here.
The Risk Corridor program was supposed to last three years, ending in 2016. But it never really got a chance to work, because of a provision added to a must-pass 2015 budget bill by the Republican congress, requiring risk corridors to be revenue neutral. (At the time, Senator Marco Rubio characterized the risk corridors program as a bailout for insurance companies.) As a result, the federal government owes insurers billions of dollars, meant to offset losses on the exchanges. Several lawsuits are currently in progress. Is it any wonder some insurers have left the individual marketplace? Funding the risk corridor program and extending its life a few more years could help reverse this trend.
If the Feds aren’t up to the task, another solution for states with too few insurers offering policies on the individual marketplace is the “public option.” While this may seem like a more radical option, that’s not necessarily the case. I see two possible results:
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Insurers would out-compete the public option, rendering it obsolete
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Insurers would flee such markets, leaving only the public option.