Health insurer to keep reforms even if law is struck down

UnitedHealthcare is announcing it today. Notable in its absence is the provision requiring coverage of pre-existing conditions:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/largest-health-insurer-to-keep-key-parts-of-law-regardless-of-court-ruling/2012/06/10/gJQA7VYfTV_story.html

 

United also is not saying that it will keep the requirement to spend a minimum of 80-85% of every dollar it collects in premiums on health care.

It turns out that keeping up-to-26-year-olds doesn't cost much and provides good PR. Of course, if health plans can now jack up rates or cut benefits to the point that more people stop buying insurance (which was happening), then promises to "keep" certain coverage ring pretty hollow.

 

Yep, health insurers are up there with Wal-Mart and tobacco companies -- anything they say they're doing for the public good, you can assume it isn't for the public good and they have an angle.

 

Well, they're smart enough to know that if the health reform law gets struck down, and the next day they went right back to what they were doing, they're going to invite the legislation to come back. After all, health reform was just about dead until word got out that WellPoint was denying payment for cancer treatments because people forgot to dot their i's (or some stupid thing) on their applications, thus making them "fraudulent."

 

Sounds good but at what cost.

 

How soon is the Supreme Court supposed to make it's ruling? I thought they said it was expected to come in June.

 

At a cost only the one percenters can afford.

 

No.

 

Extending coverage for 26-year-olds is like selling Air Jordans for $200 a pop -- it's all profit.

 

UH isn't quite the bunch of scumbags that Aetna has proven to be time and again ... but it's not far off.

 

I believe it's sometime during the last week of June. It would be a shock if the court didn't rule on this case last, and then all get into separate vehicles speeding out of town without stopping at any lights.