This figure illustrates the effects of cherry-picking the healthier lower cost patients from the general insurance pool. The care of the sicker patients is left substantially underfunded. Though there will be some adjustment of the dollar amount of premium support for the individual patient, the costs of the much sicker patients will be inadequately represented in this adjustment. The sicker patients will be underfunded in terms of the premium support and the healthier patients will be overfunded. Cherry-picking will selectively enroll the healthiest patients, leaving the remaining sicker patients in a risk pool that is underfunded.
www.NutritionHeart.com/Medicare-at-Risk