[NajdorfDefense]

[ QUOTE ]
For individuals health insurance premiums are based solely on age. Even those who have never made a claim will have their premiums raised when they move into a higher age bracket.
... premiums based on the driving records of others?

[/ QUOTE ]

driving record <> age.

Old people get sick more. This is a fact of life, not some 'unfair ripoff' the insurance companies are scamming on us. 22-yr olds don't often get Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, clogged arteries, etc.

All of these things will continue to raise the National health bill:
more people
aging population in general
more senior citizens as a % of pool
new drugs and surgeries
more demand for treatment.

But no one thinks *they* should have to pay for it.

Look - the answer is there is NO magic bullet. With an aging population you can either:
1 - pay more
2 - deny care like in UK, Canada, elsewhere,
3 - not pay for new medical advances.

Offer people this deal - you can pay 1977 prices [+inflation] for your insurance and care, but you only get 1977-era treatment. Would anyone take that deal?

New treatments for HIV cost upwards of $20k a year just for the pills. That's with no insurer markup. Society cannot pay for everything for everyone's needs for all expensive treatments and experimental surgeries and etc that 300m people want offered to them 24/7 with no waiting.

Most estimates of countries that promise 'universal care' and deny patients treatment for months at a time, spend 17-22% of GDP, a system where millions die off in line and new drugs/procedures take years and decades to be covered, if ever.
Get enough voters to put in politicians who think the Gov't makes better HC decisions than individuals, and the system will change. Are you going to make it a crime to have private insurance and doctors like those countries also have in many places? Do you think smokers and drinkers and skydivers and fatties should pay more? No system will make everyone happy.