Friday, December 1, 2006

Wandering workers of the world unite

Ezra Klein, who writes a lot about our misshapen health care system, highlights a recent proposal on the topic by Andy Stern, who was an activist in the 1960s and became president of the Service Employees International Union in 1996. He suggests the creation of an organization for young people, age 18 to 34, who want a low-cost health plan that will be portable in case of job changes, unemployment or a decision to be self-employed, the last of which is extremely costly today to the point of prohibitive. (Take it from me: freelancers are among the most left-out-in-the-cold in the current system. No one even mentions us.) The organization would also offer membership services like resume posting and a Craigslist-style bulletin board and job marketplace.

Stern's My Life would be a little like the AARP for youngsters in the sense that it would be an advocacy group -- a union across boundaries of various trades. My Life would be Web-based and so large that it would have buying power with insurance providers and perhaps prescription drug manufacturers. (Witness Wal-Mart's new $4 generic medications program.)

I don't see what's wrong with this idea, though I suppose in a way that would force everybody else to subsidize the group's low-margin business for the insurers, if I'm interpreting the economics right.

Posted by Evan Hughes at 10:28 AM

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