Health-Status Insurance
Feb. 18 2009. In Cato's Policy Analysis No 633. If you get sick and lose health insurance you are stuck -- your premiums skyrocket or you may not be able to get insurance at all. The article shows how private markets can solve this problem. If you get sick, your health premiums go up but a separate "premium increase insurance contract" pays a lump sum so that you can afford the higher health premiums. The big advantage is freedom and competition: now health insurance can freely compete for all customers all the time. This piece is written for a nontechnical popular audience, with a lot of policy discussion. This paper explains the basic framework of Time-Consistent Health Insurance (next) and thinks through lots of real-world issues and answers to "what ifs." "What to do about pre-existing conditions" in the Wall Street Journal August 14 2009 and Health Status insurance Investors Business Daily (local link) April 2 2009 are op-eds explaining the basic idea.