Health Insurance premimums based on acturary tables?

[esmith]

As we all know health insurance premiums are increasing. If I am not mistaken everyone pays the same amount. What if the premiums were based on the health risk of each person. For instance:
1. Are you overweight? If so how much? Premium increase based on how overweight you are.
2. Do you smoke? If yes, premium goes up.
3. Do you exercise? If yes premium goes down
I am not a doctor so I do not have all of the possible causes of increased health risk but I am sure that there is data available.

The reason I am bringing this forward is that I am 70 years old and on Medicare. My Medicare payment is almost $100.00 a month. In the past 15 years I have never been to the doctor except for a yearly physical. I am not overweight, do not smoke, exercise 6 days a week, and the wife wants me to stick around so she feeds me healthy food. Yet I pay the same as overweight, smoker who doesn't get of the couch.
It seems to me the Romney/Ryan plan for Medicare would be an excellent choice for me. The government gives me X number of dollars and I purchase a very basic health plan that covers major medical with a X number of dollars deductible. Of course I would want to see the sliding premium plan. However, since I am over 55 I could not qualify for this plan unless it was offered.
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=2325783

 

[tytlyf]

As we all know health insurance premiums are increasing. If I am not mistaken everyone pays the same amount. What if the premiums were based on the health risk of each person. For instance:
1. Are you overweight? If so how much? Premium increase based on how overweight you are.
2. Do you smoke? If yes, premium goes up.
3. Do you exercise? If yes premium goes down
I am not a doctor so I do not have all of the possible causes of increased health risk but I am sure that there is data available.

The reason I am bringing this forward is that I am 70 years old and on Medicare. My Medicare payment is almost $100.00 a month. In the past 15 years I have never been to the doctor except for a yearly physical. I am not overweight, do not smoke, exercise 6 days a week, and the wife wants me to stick around so she feeds me healthy food. Yet I pay the same as overweight, smoker who doesn't get of the couch.
It seems to me the Romney/Ryan plan for Medicare would be an excellent choice for me. The government gives me X number of dollars and I purchase a very basic health plan that covers major medical with a X number of dollars deductible. Of course I would want to see the sliding premium plan. However, since I am over 55 I could not qualify for this plan unless it was offered.
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=2325783

You better know what you're getting into before you praise it. Fact check is your friend. FauxTV is not your friend.

 

[esmith]

You better know what you're getting into before you praise it. Fact check is your friend. FauxTV is not your friend.

I was asking an opinion and all you give is the typical anti-Fox rhetoric. How about an input about what you agree or disagree with what I put forward. If you disagree with it what would you do about the increasing health care cost.

 

[freethinker44]

You are 70 years old. Your health insurance is going to be high no matter where you go. Premiums are based on your potential to use medical care, and a 70 years person has a very high potential to require mecical care. 100 dollars a month is very reasonable for a 70 year old. Since, statistically, you are nearing death, a sliding scale would put you at the riskiest end of the health insurance spectrum so you would pay the highest premium. You are probably way better off now than if you had to pay your own health insurance, even with a government voucher.

 

[Revoltingest]

Foxophobia is a debilitating & highly contagious disease, which is becoming epidemic in the US & Canuckistan.
Sypmtoms: Loss of ability to spell "Fox", obsession with Fox, belief everything bad is Bush's fault, having a
"Hope & Change" poster on one's bedroom wall without ironic intent. Treatment requires a daily dose of the
Drudge Report, & laying off of high fat sources like MSNBC, NYT, WaPo, HuPo, NPR & Michael Moore movies.

 

[esmith]

You are 70 years old. Your health insurance is going to be high no matter where you go. Premiums are based on your potential to use medical care, and a 70 years person has a very high potential to require mecical care. 100 dollars a month is very reasonable for a 70 year old. Since, statistically, you are nearing death, a sliding scale would put you at the riskiest end of the health insurance spectrum so you would pay the highest premium. You are probably way better off now than if you had to pay your own health insurance, even with a government voucher.

Not necessarily, if you maintain a healthy lifestyle your cause of death could be caused by other than medical issues that would require a doctor. There are many of us "near death" seniors that die because our parts wear out and we just "drop dead". At least I can look forward to Medicare until that time. Not so sure about you youngsters

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Foxophobia is a debilitating & highly contagious disease, which is becoming epidemic in the US & Canuckistan.
Sypmtoms: Loss of ability to spell "Fox", obsession with Fox, belief everything bad is Bush's fault, having a
"Hope & Change" poster on one's bedroom wall without ironic intent. Treatment requires a daily dose of the
Drudge Report, & laying off of high fat sources like MSNBC, NYT, WaPo, HuPo, NPR & Michael Moore movies.

You can't be serious. They just simply suck. I'm not saying MSNBC is any better. It helps to try and get as much unbiased news as possible...if there is such a thing.....and get as much unbiased fact checking as possible. Fox has an image issue especially since they seem to doctor up their news and report certain issues falsely.


[youtube]JS1NWYV1i_E[/youtube]
Sean Hannity Confesses Using Fake Footage: "Jon Stewart Was Right!" - YouTube

[youtube]jvLLL2RFfmg[/youtube]
Fox News Doctors New Times Photos - YouTube

 

[freethinker44]

Not necessarily, if you maintain a healthy lifestyle your cause of death could be caused by other than medical issues that would require a doctor. There are many of us "near death" seniors that die because our parts wear out and we just "drop dead". At least I can look forward to Medicare until that time. Not so sure about you youngsters

Right and there are many overweight people who don't have heart problems, but most do so anyone overweight is put into a high risk category and then pays more. I'm not saying you are unhealthy because you are ridiculously old, I'm saying you are high risk because your ridiculously old peers are unhealthy.

Just kidding about the 'ridiculously old' thing, but from my perspective, you have lived two of my lifetimes and that's a lot to me.

 

[esmith]

Right and there are many overweight people who don't have heart problems, but most do so anyone overweight is put into a high risk category and then pays more. I'm not saying you are unhealthy because you are ridiculously old, I'm saying you are high risk because your ridiculously old peers are unhealthy.

Just kidding about the 'ridiculously old' thing, but from my perspective, you have lived two of my lifetimes and that's a lot to me.

Yeah but I'm young at heart and mind......even play FPS games on my Xbox

 

[Sunstone]

I don't think the OP grasps what insurance is all about. But that doesn't surprise me.

 

[Reverend Rick]

I don't think the OP grasps what insurance is all about. But that doesn't surprise me.

I think many want a health care plan that pays for everything and that is not insurance.

Our auto policies don't pay for oil changes and our health insurance should not be an A-Z blanket policy.

Real health insurance would cover catastrophic things and not routine visits.

Knowing you are going to need a great amount of prescriptions and buying a policy to pay for them is NOT insurance.

Insurance is for unforeseen occurrences.

 

[sandandfoam]

As we all know health insurance premiums are increasing. If I am not mistaken everyone pays the same amount. What if the premiums were based on the health risk of each person. For instance:
1. Are you overweight? If so how much? Premium increase based on how overweight you are.
2. Do you smoke? If yes, premium goes up.
3. Do you exercise? If yes premium goes down
I am not a doctor so I do not have all of the possible causes of increased health risk but I am sure that there is data available.

The reason I am bringing this forward is that I am 70 years old and on Medicare. My Medicare payment is almost $100.00 a month. In the past 15 years I have never been to the doctor except for a yearly physical. I am not overweight, do not smoke, exercise 6 days a week, and the wife wants me to stick around so she feeds me healthy food. Yet I pay the same as overweight, smoker who doesn't get of the couch.
It seems to me the Romney/Ryan plan for Medicare would be an excellent choice for me. The government gives me X number of dollars and I purchase a very basic health plan that covers major medical with a X number of dollars deductible. Of course I would want to see the sliding premium plan. However, since I am over 55 I could not qualify for this plan unless it was offered.

I imagine that if you were to buy health insurance based on risk for a 70 year old male you would probably need several jobs.
$100 might pay for the first hour or two.

 

[esmith]

I don't think the OP grasps what insurance is all about. But that doesn't surprise me.

So, please enlighten me on what I don't understand and let us know what insurance is about. I hope you don't mean just because of my age I don't understand, or do you?

 

[sandandfoam]

So, please enlighten me on what I don't understand and let us know what insurance is about. I hope you don't mean just because of my age I don't understand, or do you?

Given that he is himself an old fella, Sunstone definitely isn't ageist

 

[esmith]

I imagine that if you were to buy health insurance based on risk for a 70 year old male you would probably need several jobs.
$100 might pay for the first hour or two.

You really do not understand what I am suggesting. I am willing to have a plan based on a higher deductible for routine out-patient care and annual physical exams. The amount of the deductible could be variable. In vehicle full coverage your policy cost is reduced by various factors one of which is the deductible. I only want a insurance policy that covers major medical and depending on my life style and family history is a contributing factor in determining if I will need major medical. This "I want everything paid for" is dragging this country down. One example, requiring "free" (not really free though) birth control pills. I will not fall into the Democrats trap on this issue, but if you really want a comprehensive article on this try:

Cost of Birth Control

 

[sandandfoam]

You really do not understand what I am suggesting. I am willing to have a plan based on a higher deductible for routine out-patient care and annual physical exams. The amount of the deductible could be variable. In vehicle full coverage your policy cost is reduced by various factors one of which is the deductible. I only want a insurance policy that covers major medical and depending on my life style and family history is a contributing factor in determining if I will need major medical. This "I want everything paid for" is dragging this country down. One example, requiring "free" (not really free though) birth control pills. I will not fall into the Democrats trap on this issue, but if you really want a comprehensive article on this try:

Cost of Birth Control

Oh I undersand fine. American Turkeys do vote for Christmas after all.

 

[McBell]

I think many want a health care plan that pays for everything and that is not insurance.

Our auto policies don't pay for oil changes and our health insurance should not be an A-Z blanket policy.

Real health insurance would cover catastrophic things and not routine visits.

Knowing you are going to need a great amount of prescriptions and buying a policy to pay for them is NOT insurance.

Insurance is for unforeseen occurrences.

Wait...
Isn't it the health "insurance" companies that pushed so hard to stick their noses...I mean integrated themselves into every thing medical including routine visits?
And now that they got the country used to the idea theya re whining about not being able to make the kind of money they are now/

Not that I can blame them for being so upset over it.
i mean just look at how the oil companies are gouging the economy and the government remains silent....

 

[Alceste]

I thought health insurance premiums were already risk based.

At any rate, you would get no points for being fit from an insurance company looking at risk exposure. They are looking at demographics, not individuals. 70 year olds in general are higher risk than 30 year olds in general, no matter how fat the younger folks are or how much they smoke. You would be a little better off than other 70 year olds who also smoke and are obese, since they would be in three high risk categories and you would be in one.

The question seems crazy from my perspective, though. Why not just have your taxes cover health care for everybody, pay half what you are currently paying, and never again have to worry about insurance costs, co-pays, deductibles, or the financial burden of injury or illness?

 

[McBell]

. Why not just have your taxes cover health care for everybody, pay half what you are currently paying, and never again have to worry about insurance costs, co-pays, deductibles, or the financial burden of injury or illness?

Seems to me that it was already tried small scale and failed because the politicians couldn't keep their hands off the money....

 

[Alceste]

Seems to me that it was already tried small scale and failed because the politicians couldn't keep their hands off the money....

You can't try universal health care "small scale". If it isn't universal, it's not universal health care. I'm curious, though, what are you referring to?