Letters to the Editor  Collapse coming  February 28, 2010   To
the editor:  Maybe health care reform is not dead after all,
thanks to Wellpoint. Wellpoint is a major nationwide health care
insurer which recently announced a 39 percent increase in
premiums in California and similar massive increases in many
other states, providing us an instructive preview of a future
without health care reform.  The people of California did not
suddenly use 39 percent more services, and the health care
providers did not increase their fees by 39 percent. Nor did
Wellpoint just decide to quadruple their profits. What really
happened is much more scary for those opponents of reform who
are not interested in the uninsured because “I’ve got mine.” It
relates to a phenomenon called risk pool concentration.  When
health insurance premiums become unaffordable, the first
individuals and businesses to drop coverage are the healthy, who
perceive little need for coverage. (Their unexpected, uninsured
catastrophes continue to be covered