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New York's former insurance superintendent, Eric Dinallo–now an NYU professor, and potential candidate for state attorney general–published an op-ed in yesterday's New York Daily News in which he explains why individuals must be required to buy health insurance to reform the system. But he also suggests that a public option is required to make sure coverage is affordable for all. Frankly, I wonder whether he might think my call for a Health Insurance Assigned Risk Plan might do the trick?

In his article–”Everyone Into The Pool! It's The Only Way Insurance Works” (go to http://bit.ly/4wfHwe to read the entire piece), Mr. Dinallo patiently explains why under any health care reform plan, if everyone is not required to buy coverage, we'll end up with adverse selection–in which people will only sign up when they suspect they're sick and will incur bills.

If President Obama gets through Congress his proposed restrictions banning denial of coverage for preexisting conditions or cancellation for being ill, an individual mandate is even more essential, since without such a requirement, insurers would simply get stuck with anyone who becomes sick. That would soon bankrupt the system.

This is no joke, as Mr. Dinallo cites a Kaiser Foundation finding that about 2 percent of those with insurance account for some 40 percent of claims costs.

Mr. Dinallo also insists that the experience in Massachusetts, which imposed an individual mandate but failed to see costs drop as a result of the state's reform initiative, does not undermine his argument.

In fact, he says that while “the basic principle is sound,” where Massachusetts dropped the ball was in “failing to make an insurance plan available for everyone to be able to purchase…”

He suggests that's why it's important to have a public option with federal reform, or “something very close to it.” He explains that “if we are to require insurance, it needs to be available regardles of how much you earn or how sick you are.”

I wonder what Mr. Dinallo thinks of my idea, outlined in my Aug. 19 blog entry (http://bit.ly/mH55x) to establish a Health Insurance Assigned Risk Plan to assure that everyone is covered, with those unable to get insurance assigned (at reduced group rates) to existing carriers, according to their market share in that particular state?

What do you folks think about individual mandates and their implications?

Special Reports /

Dinallo Explains Need For Health Insurance Mandate

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