San Diego Wins the Healthcare War

No one would accuse California of being a “red” state. But, this otherwise high-cost of living liberal state has among the lowest individual health insurance rates in the country. There’s several good reasons, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

People in San Diego pay among the lowest prices in the country when buying health insurance policies for their children or families, according to a report this week by a national health insurance broker.
In March, eHealthInsurance, which represents 140 insurance underwriters, examined 5,000 stand-alone health plans offered in the country's 100 largest cities….
Other California cities also ranked among the lowest prices, in part because of strong competition among insurance providers in the state and a more favorable regulatory environment, said Karen Auby, spokeswoman for eHealthInsurance. Both factors help keep insurance prices in California lower than they are in most other states, she said.
State regulators let insurance companies offer a wider range of products in California than are offered in other states, said Lynne Randolph, spokeswoman for the state Department of Managed Health Care. “I'm not surprised that California cities again rank among the top 10,” she said.
The proliferation of managed-care policies offered by health management organizations in California also contributed to lower prices here, said Christopher Ohman, chief executive officer of the California Association of Health Plans.
HMOs “know how to bargain hard” for favorable pricing for prescription drugs and hospital services, and they emphasize preventive care practices, such as childhood immunization, Ohman said.

I’ve written before (see here for a list of links) about Congressman John Shadegg’s Healthy Competition bill. It would allow individuals to purchase financially-sound policies from other states that don’t burden their costs with excessive mandates and regulation. It would also broaden accessibility by those in small states to the risk-sharing of larger insurance pools.

It’s not, alone, a panacea. Nothing, alone, is, including the proven worst panacea of nationalized government-run healthcare. However, it helps.

Another factor, as demonstrated in California, with its penetration of private managed care among the highest in the nation, is that – like the private Medicare Part D Rx plans – the demonstration that private managed care works to provide economic coverage. Those who want to pay more to search for the grail of miracle care, can. I’ve been a health insurance consultant and broker working nationally from San Diego for near two decades, and been in HMO’s myself most of my life. Managed care does not restrict my access to top quality care.

California’s reasonable level of regulation is the best I encounter around the country. That, managed care, wide choice of plans, vigorous competition among private insurers, all contribute to some of the lowest individual insurance rates in the country. Sure, they are high, but better than elsewhere.

And, a San Diego coastal heat wave is 80F! More affordable health insurance rates make it easier to pay the mortgage on the expensive housing, much of the blame for which lays with the reduction of supply from excessive environmental and regulatory restrictions. But, that’s another war.