As I have written about before, the Health Insurance Reform bill is based on the plan currently in place in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts plan has a “Connector,” governed by a board which dictates what insurance companies must offer the citizens of the state. Because of this, the state now has the highest insurance premiums in the country.

It’s called “mandate creep.”

For example, the Connector’s governing board has decreed that by January 2009, no one in the state will be allowed to have insurance with more than a $2,000 deductible or total out-of-pocket costs of more than $5,000. In addition, every policy in the state will be required to phase in coverage of prescription drugs, a move that could add 5–15 percent to the cost of insurance plans. A move to require dental coverage barely failed to pass the board, and the dentists-along with several other provider groups-have not given up the effort to force their inclusion. This comes on top of the 40 mandated benefits that the state had previously required, ranging from in vitro fertilization to chiropractic services.

Thus, it appears that the Connector offers quite a bit of pain for relatively little gain. Although the ability to use pretax dollars to purchase personal and portable insurance should be appealing in theory, only about 7,500 nonsubsidized workers have purchased insurance through the Connector so far. On the other hand, rather than insurance that "fits their needs," Massachusetts residents find themselves forced to buy expensive "Cadillac" policies that offer many benefits that they may not want.

The current health reform bill in the House takes what Massachusetts has done, and turns it loose on all of America:

The health care bill under consideration in the House of Representatives would give President Obama the authority to name a new federal “Health Choices Commissioner” who would have sweeping power to govern the health insurance plans offered in a so-called "exchange" where millions of Americans would get their health insurance if the bill is enacted.

These powers would include deciding which treatments are covered, which companies can participate, which states can run their own exchange, and enrolling individuals into the public exchange.

…

The Health Choices Commissioner would establish “the benefits to be made available under Exchange-participating health benefit plans during each plan year,” according to page 84 of the 1,018-page bill. That means the commissioner would determine what benefits the participating insurance companies must offer participating customers in the exchange.

The commissioner would also set rules for insurance companies to participate in the health insurance exchange, and establish criteria for individuals to receive federal subsidies to purchase insurance in the exchange, according to section 142 on page 42 of the legislation.

Further, the commissioner would have the authority to establish “automatic enrollment” of individuals who qualify for the health insurance exchange.

Now, take what you see in Massachusetts and expand it nationally. Here’s what happens.

Because insurance companies are forced to offer more and more services, the cost for the plan increases as well. Employers see their health care cost steadily increasing and decide to drop health insurance benefits, since their employees can just sign up for the public option. More and more people sign up for the government plan, resulting in higher and higher costs to the government, increasing the deficit and the national debt.

Massachusetts was swamped with people using their program, resulting in costs greatly exceeding projections. Now, they have a big bill due that they don’t know how to pay. There is absolutely nothing to lead a person to believe this won’t happen on a national level.

When Obama says you can keep your coverage if you are happy with it, he is either lying to you, or is totally incapable of seeing the writing on the wall. Or maybe, just maybe, health care reform isn’t what this is all about.

Related posts:

• Massachusetts Now Has Highest Health Insurance Premiums in the Country
• Something McCain is Doing Right: His Health Care Plan
• It Took Sixteen Pages to Outlaw Private Health Insurance – Updated
• The Devil is in the Details: A Look at Obama’s Health Care Plan
• There’s No Such Thing As Free Health Care