Shifting Costs from One Group to Another

A provision in a House health-care bill could benefit one age group at the expense of the other.

According to this Wall Street Journal article, in an effort to help reduce the high-cost of premiums that the elderly pay, they would be capped at a lower amount than those in the younger age brackets.

The cost for health-care, then, wouldn't just be determined by income anymore, but also by age.

This system sets up the potential of just shifting the cost.

Because while the elderly will pay lower premiums, they normally require the most medical care, and the costs will have to be compensated for in some way.

The bill would also require health-insurance to be mandatory, or else will face the penalty of paying a fine.

This, according to the article, could force the younger population to make them buy expensive policies they don't want.

These costs weight most heavily on the age group that have low-paying jobs, who are in transition from school to a career, or in an just starting out in an entry-level position.

Renee Rotherberg, 23, moved from New York to Massachusetts in an effort to receive more affordable health-care for all of the ailments that she suffers with on a daily basis at such a young age. Rothberg has been diagnosed with bone spurs, fibromyalgia, bipolar disorder, and a slip-disk from a car accident that she was in four years ago, and has to take five different medications daily in order to function what she terms as, "like a normal person."

"It just doesn't make any sense to cap or not cap certain health insurance costs based on age," she says. "I understand that the majority of the care is given to the elderly, but there are people like me who would pay severely with a plan like that. I already pay so much as it is!"

How much that is varies Rothberg says. There are times when she has to be prescribed Imitrex for her migraines, which her insurance won't pay for and costs upwards of 100-dollars per pill. Her mental health coverage, she told me, is also very limited. Many of those costs, if you need care long-term, are expensive and paid by the individual.

"Sometimes I just don't bother with that. It's just too much. I'm only 23, and I barely make enough as it is."

Could these compulsory health-care costs deter individuals from seeking care they may need outside of a medical doctor?

Dr. Brooke, a psychologist at MercyFirst, a non-profit human services organization based in Long-Island, deals mostly with juveniles who've been kicked out of their school because of behavioral problems.

"I think about the types of clients I normally deal with", she says. "Currently it's difficult to be able to afford these services past a certain age, unless there's a biological diagnosis such as bipolar disorder or ADHD. But some of these kids don't suffer with that, but rather with personality disorders, which insurance companies won't cover. Mental-health services, unfortunately, then become an added expense."

If the House passes the bill, only time will tell what the real implications of this provision will be.