Here's how health care bill will bankrupt us

If you only look at three elements of the health care bill, you can clearly see how this bill will not only drive up costs, but will be a disaster for the entire health insurance industry.

• A family of four making $88,050 a year cannot have their insurance premiums go up more than 12.5 percent of income with a cap of $10,000.

• You don't get insurance, you pay a penalty of 2.5 percent.

• By 2013 you can't be denied for pre-existing conditions for any reason.

By themselves, these rules seems to create lower costs to the consumer as well as increase the ability to get health insurance coverage. The problem? None of this takes into consideration basic economics. People make decisions to maximize benefits with the least amount of cost as possible.

Any rational individual would not pay up to the $10,000 cap for health insurance, but will pay the penalty of $2,200 (2.5 percent of $88,000) per year. Only when an individual has a major illness or surgery will he purchase insurance, because he cannot be denied coverage. After the insurance company paid for the procedure, the individual will drop the insurance, and go back to paying $2,200 fine.

This type of scenario will be played out over and over again, draining the insurance companies and leaving the individuals who regularly pay premiums with nothing. Why someone like Rep. Bill Foster cannot connect the dots is beyond me. After all, the man is a scientist.

Cody McCubbin

Chairman

Kane County Young Republicans

Geneva