J M Topodas

Pure community rating: a quick fix to avoid.

Insurance coverage denial and excessive premium rates have made the small employer health insurance market a popular target for sweeping reforms. Many proponents of small market insurance reform have advocated pure community rating by requiring carriers to charge the same rate to all of their customers as a solution. But legislating the use of pure community rating could do more harm than good in solving the problems of cost and access. A more sensible approach would limit rate differences through either rating bands or community rating by class.