If recent reports are accurate, legislation being prepared in the U.S. Senate would cause nearly every healthy American under the age of 65 to become uninsured. Under current proposals, large employers would face a fine of up to $750 per employee if they didn’t offer health insurance.  Since that is much less than employers currently spend on employee health insurance premiums, most businesses would choose to pay the fine and drop their group health insurance.  Individuals who did not buy health insurance would face an initial fine of between $0 and $100.  Since the biggest fine is much lower than the cost of health insurance, the bill would create an incentive for individuals to drop their health insurance and pay the relatively small fine.  Finally, individuals would be guaranteed health coverage even if they had pre-existing conditions.  Traditionally, smart consumers have purchased health insurance when they were healthy to make sure they’d...(Read Full Post)