Mark Bertolini, CEO and chairman of Aetna Insurance, recently declared that the end of health insurance companies as we know them is here. MLR requirements and the ban on medical underwriting will render the health insurance business model untenable, he says. The single-payer model is just about here.
Yet, the new system may be just as bad. While government-sponsored insurance plans cut back hugely on the administrative costs run up by for-profits, they also see over-usage of the system once care is available to all, which eats up most of the savings.
