On 28 Oct 2008 at 17:57, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > >So what's your take on the system being used in the Netherlands, with > >particular reference to its elimination of Adverse Selection? > > > Can you point us to a "for dummies" explanation? Also, is there > anything about that system which might prevent it from scaling up to > a diverse population of 300 million+?
For dummies, okay. It's a new system, introduced in 2006 and there are still minor tweaks going on, but it's attracted a lot of attention. The core of it is this: It's a system of obligatory private health insurance. The insurance companies (and over a dozen compete) can't refuse to offer you the basic package, for a flat price. Additional cover is offered at the insurance company's digression, at any price they chose to set. You can chose to have an excess to reduce the premium, but are not forced to have one. A few percentage points of income go into a "risk pool", which pays out to the insurance companies based on how risky their clients are: more risky clients, more cash. This is how it avoids Adverse Selection. There are more details (such as kids being covered free) in the Netherlands, but they're not essential to its function. AndrewC Dawn Falcon _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
