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EHealth CEO Gary Lauer questions whether providing health-care coverage to more people will impact costs.
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Look to yesterday whereabouts that you have to buying health -- you have to you might as well find it at a bargain price right.
What joining the company from Mountain View California now is Gary -- The CEO of his company helps you find coverage in your state.
All right Gary I take it that this ruling from the Supreme Court is good for -- -- business right.
Wells that there's no course -- -- now the law of the land and it effectively doubles the size of the market that some of -- like -- addresses.
India we've we've been at this long before the words exchange and health insurers were in the same sentence bringing people to the Internet to find affordable health insurance -- So clearly with over thirty million people who are uninsured.
Moving toward the ranks of being -- rolled over the next several years this is an opportunity for someone like us and I think.
Other businesses well you know I think it's an example -- has done right of of private and public coming together.
OK now obviously your in favor of this law.
And -- all Obama -- generally I should say.
Do you believe -- that these exchanges.
Which are sets up within states when that sets up.
There will be genuine competition.
Price competition for the delivery of health care services you think that will really -- do yeah.
Well I think the big question is.
With everything that's in the affordable care will in fact.
Make these products and make access to health insurance coverage less expensive yeah well it part of the promise will it I think that's the big question but what's your opinion.
Well.
My opinion -- that's going to be difficult to drive prices down -- Part of the premise is that when you've got more people in the system.
-- you'll have less people who were dependent upon emergency rooms and so on who can't pay.
Which you have the other side of that when you've got more people who now have the ability to utilize they may very well do that we've got an aging population for example.
Who needs it requires more -- more in the way of medical services.
As demand goes up you know -- the basic of fundamental economics what happens to prices prices go up as well also.
You've you've really got two countervailing.
You know ID is here in some ways you've got.
More people coming into the system will be less dependent on free care from emergency rooms presumably.
You're gonna have more people coming into the system wanting to use it you're gonna have more demand and we know what happens with prices when there's when there's more demand.
So it frankly it's hard for me to believe that prices are going to go down I see -- -- I think rather you have to look at this walls a way to get coverage to many many more people who don't have it today and is that a good thing that's that that's the that's fundamentally the question with this -- -- OK a real fast if Mitt Romney became president and Obama -- was repealed.
And income -- a Republican solution which would be.
Allow into -- state health care insurers operating across state lines to genuine national competition.
Do you think back would get the price down.
Well that's an interest in one as well and what's not understood about that is that today I could be in new York and buy a product in California.
Currently can't use that New -- that product in California that health insurance product we worked with the hospitals in the positions that are in California.
So you're really talking about a fundamental shift and change in the way that health insurance.
Actually pays the the providers -- So it's not quite -- these -- -- across straight lines because it's less expensive than one state and -- another there are reasons that the prices are different in each of the states.
And it has to do with the markets that exists in each of those states so it's likely that if you broke down the state lines.
You could buy a California product that you could you then use in New York you know it would be a more expensive product because that delivers more expensive in New York.
I don't allow we appreciate you being with us today I think you've got an interesting new issue business given the turmoil -- health -- as it stands Gary thanks for joining us -- we do appreciate it thank you think --
