I'd hate to see the requirement to cover pre-existing conditions eliminated. I'm 63 and by all accounts insanely healthy, but I've had a couple of benign colon polyps, had a benign breast lump removed when I was 18, and have borderline high cholesterol which I prefer to control with diet and exercise. In the Bad Old Days, an insurance company might offer me coverage but exclude any problems related to breast or colon cancer or, worse, take my premium for years and then when I developed something expensive, go back through my medical records with a fine-tooth comb and deny my claim because I never told them I had 3 kidneys. (No, I'm not making that up.
) In one notorious case a photogenic 3-year old was denied coverage for cancer because his mother hadn't noted on the application that she'd taken antidepressants years ago.
The whole principle of insurance is that the many cover the expensive losses of the unfortunate few.
I would, however, STRONGLY support wellness programs such as those used in some employer plans, which give you financial and other incentives for keeping your weight at normal levels, lowering your blood pressure, controlling your diabetes, etc. (I'm typing this on a computer purchased with $400 worth of Amazon.com credits from my last employer's wellness program.) One Harvard study concluded that obesity added about $1.5 billion a year to health care costs. Let's focus on controlling the controllable, but covering everyone for the "there but for the grace of God go I" stuff that can happen to any of us.