To assert that the cost of healthcare has no relationship to the cost of health insurance, as you appear to be doing
I made no assertion that resembles the one I claimed you did. The closest I come to it is the implied assertion that health care costs are not the sole reason for differences in health care insurance costs.
Of course, some kinds of government regulation would tend to drive the cost of health insurance up. But obviously, the costs of the care itself have a more direct effect.
More direct is debatable, I'd say its about the same, but I consider it an unimportant point, so fine, I'll accept more direct. The important point is not the directness of the effect but the size of the effect.
The difference in health care insurance costs between the highest costs states and the lowest cost states is significantly more than the difference in health care costs between the states.
Do you really think that health care costs almost 4 times as much in CA as NY?
"We New Yorkers, for instance, are forced to buy insurance that includes fertility treatments and chiropractors. It’s one reason why I must pay more. Another is our “community rating” system, which forces insurers to charge sick people the same rates as healthy ones. The cheapest plan offered is Los Angeles is $660/year – in NYC it’s $2,112/year, based on rates for a 25-year-old male at ehealthinsurance.com. A zero- deductible HMO is $3,780/year in CA, vs. $14,736/year for a comparable one in NY."
stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com
MP: The chart above (click to enlarge) is based on this study from the America’s Health Insurance Plans (Table 3), and shows the huge variation in the average annual premium for single health insurance coverage by state (2006-2007). The average health insurance ranges from a low of $1,254 in Wisconsin to a high of $8,537 in Massachusetts, and the national average is $2,613. That kind of variation couldn't exist in a competitive market for health insurance. Interstate competition for health insurance would go a long way towards bringing health insurance costs down.
mjperry.blogspot.com
...New York requires every insurance policy sold there to cover podiatry. Acupuncture coverage is mandated in 11 states, massage therapy in four, osteopathy in 24, and chiropractors in 47. There are an estimated 1,800 or so such insurance “mandates” across the country, and the costs add up.
To illustrate, a 25-year old male in good health could purchase a policy for under $1,000 in Kentucky, yet in New Jersey it might cost upwards of $6,000. Simply put, the state’s regulations on health insurance cause health insurance costs to be higher and because you can’t buy insurance outside of your state, you are stuck with higher costs if you live in a state with a high number of mandates; this leads to a lack of affordability for many people...
20smoney.com
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