This question was asked before implementation of the Affordable Care Act, but the answer highlights important features of the new law: coverage for preexisting conditions, and the mandate to purchase.
Health insurance in NY was expensive because laws required insurers to issue policies regardless of health. Healthy people were not required to purchase a policy. Eventually only the sickest people enrolled in the plans, forcing premiums very high.
The Affordable Care Act includes a mandate for health people to purchase coverage. It remains to be seen if the penalty for being uninsured is stiff enough to avoid what happened in NY.
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Health insurance in NY was expensive because laws required insurers to issue policies regardless of health. Healthy people were not required to purchase a policy. Eventually only the sickest people enrolled in the plans, forcing premiums very high.
The Affordable Care Act includes a mandate for health people to purchase coverage. It remains to be seen if the penalty for being uninsured is stiff enough to avoid what happened in NY.