Young and healthy in New York? Good luck finding health insurance you can afford.

By Gary Lauer

 

Does it make sense for a healthy 30-year-old to pay over $300 a month for health insurance she’ll rarely use??

This could be why 25 to 34-year-olds are the least likely to have health insurance.?In New York, regulations have restricted health insurance companies from charging individuals based on their health status or age.?The resulting prices are good for older and less healthy New Yorkers who get to pay the same rate as a healthy 20-year-old.? But is it fair to ask a young person just starting out to pay as much as someone in their 60’s??

 

Thanks to Governor Pataki’s Healthy NY program, individuals can find more affordable health insurance ?if they meet certain requirements.?But for those people who make more than $23,800 in gross annual income, going without health coverage is often the only option. If a typical plan in New York City costs $330 a month or nearly $4,000 a year, how can someone who makes $30,000 a year afford that??

 

They can’t.?

 

If the state of New York would allow insurance companies to once again rate individuals based on more than just their zip code, insurance companies would have the flexibility to provide affordable health plans that meet everyone’s needs. $300 a month for health insurance is a deal for someone with a chronic illness, but it can break the bank for someone who rarely goes to the doctor.?

 

The young and healthy often go without health insurance.?Sadly, the uninsured tend to avoid seeking care until they have no choice but to go to an emergency room. Not only is this a burden to the ERs, but also leads to poor health and even premature death, according to the Institute of Medicine. Routine medical care alerts us to potential health problems while they are in the early stages and more receptive to treatment.  ?

 

Healthy NY is a great step in the right direction but it still leaves people in a health insurance gap.? The real solution is to allow competition and flexibility in the individual health insurance market, so people can afford to buy health insurance before they need it.?By allowing insurers to offer healthier people less expensive insurance, we can spread the risk over a larger population because more people will have an incentive to buy health insurance.

 

Other states unencumbered by regulations like those in New York allow pricing flexibility resulting in much more affordable health insurance. A recent report?shows that Long Beach, Calif. is the nation’s #1 most affordable large city for health insurance for 30-year-old individuals, with plans as low as $54 per month. Thirty-three of the nation’s largest cities have health insurance plans for less than $100 per month, more than one-third less than the cost of plans offered to individuals in New York.

 

While well-intentioned, New York State’s regulations on health insurance companies have made it too expensive for mid-income people to afford health coverage.?

 

The NY state government should allow individuals the ability to purchase affordable health insurance by eliminating the restrictive regulations that make health insurance so expensive in New York.?

 

Gary Lauer is the CEO of eHealthInsurance, an online marketplace for individual and family health insurance.