The Cruz and Trump plan is to restore the insurance industry to the pre-ACA status quo:
WOW: @SecPriceMD admits Senate bill would basically permit insurers to operate like they did before ACA: deny coverage, price folks out pic.twitter.com/GCPaFKO3wB
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) July 16, 2017
And what does that look like?
Here is a brochure targeted at insurance agents in 2006 for an exciting new individual market product in Arkansas:
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield now offers a new health insurance plan for individuals and families that provides policyholders the ability to select benefit features that fit their unique needs and budget….
BlueChoice provides an array of deductible ($500 to $25,000)…. BlueChoice provides up to $2 million in lifetime
benefits for each covered family member.may select optional maternity coverage….
medical underwriting is required; however, it can be a bit more flexible because of the higher deductibles associated with the plan structure. Considered a “limited benefit” policy, BlueChoice doesn’t offer coverage for treatment for alcoholism, drug addiction and psychiatric conditions (including Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder); and there are limits on home health care, outpatient therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy and speech therapy
These types of policies are dirt cheap for young, healthy males who can easily pass underwriting screens as their dominant expense risk involves the phrase “Hold my beer.” For anyone else, they either are being underwritten out, expected services are not covered or they are significantly uprated.
That is the bad old days that the BCRA wants to go back to.