[BigV]

Yes, I saw that story too. What is your opinion?

I'll tell you my take on it.

The insurance companies won't want to lose their customers, so they'll offer coverage to the individuals. This is a good thing, letting people be more in control of what they want in an insurance package. When I was working, our insurance choices were just ONE. One company only. I had no choice, despite how well or poorly it fit me. I like the idea of being able to pick from among a few choices.

I read a couple interesting things in the article. Though one study says 30% of companies will drop coverage, another study says they won't. Both are trying to predict the future, we'll just see. Also, I noticed that there is an expectation that employees will see their compensation rise if the benefits are taken away.

I think this story talks about something that probably will happen, though to what degree is impossible to say at this point. I also think that given the individual mandate, there will be a much larger percentage of people covered. This will have two likely benefits. More people will be covered, this is good all by itself. Fewer people will have to rely on emergency care, the kind of care that is expensive and often represents uncompensated care by the provider (the kind that drives up the costs for the other payers, as we've discussed). Also, given the larger pool of payers, it will be easier to offer lower rates/lower marginal rates to maintain their profit margins for the insurance company. I don't have so much interest in how much they make (within reason) but I am interested in the lower rates.