Question: Pre-existing Conditions: Insurance companies do not like to cover pre-existing conditions without being able to rate the premium because they know that these individuals represent higher risk and distort the average risk of the pool. Accepting preconditions does raise the premiums for everyone in an insurance pool. There are many ordinary circumstances, however, where a person with an expensive condition loses their insurance and would suddenly find themselves uninsurable if the insurance exchanges (charging group rates) were not available.
Do we have a social obligation to workers, for example, who lose their insurance coverage when they lose their jobs, to make sure they are not stranded with a condition that can no longer be treated?
Can we design a system that will prevent this from happening, but without placing the higher risk obligation on the private insurance companies?