Another aspect to the Act is how it's going to affect investing. Insurance companies don't make money from premiums. They make money from investing premiums and earning returns on those investments. While insurance companies and the politicians to whom they give money like to blame rising insurance costs on malpractice lawsuits, the reality is that insurance premiums tend to rise to make up the difference when
investments are not paying off sufficiently. So what's going to happen when health insurers have a much larger risk pool, and have to pay for riskier treatments and medications? They will need to make increasing amounts of money from their investments to make a profit, since they will be paying out more money in claims. This may necessitate investing in riskier areas to earn a greater return. I wonder how much money insurance companies invested in things like collateralized debt obligations, before the housing market collapsed.
But you know, one place insurance companies could invest seeking larger returns in is commodities. I'm sure it will not affect the price of things like food or gas for your car when lots and lots of multi-billion dollar companies have to throw tons of money into a market to make larger returns to make up for the increased risks they have been forced to accept.
And you know those experimental drugs and treatments insurance now has to cover? I wonder what that will do to doctors' malpractice premiums.