After all the garbage Health insurance companies have put patients through?
why care if they would not be able to compete? And why is free enterprise more important than patients not going bankrupt and getting the care they need?
Would ending competition among health insurances affect development of medicine or would it remain the same?
"Kiss all medical innovation goodbye"
How so?
We’re talking about health insurance companies, how would ending competition among them halt development of medicine?
My Health Insurance is great. I have Kaiser and pay $75 bucks a month plus $20 dollar co-pay and I’m set.
I had life saving surgery last year and I was treated like a king in the hospital.
My bill was $380,000 for open heart surgery and I paid $2,400 for all the co-pays and prescriptions.
No company can compete against the government, the government does not have to make a profit or pay taxes and can print their own money, private companies cannot.
90% of all patents, innovation, and development comes from the private sector not government.
July 17th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Kiss all medical innovation goodbye.
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July 17th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
My Health Insurance is great. I have Kaiser and pay $75 bucks a month plus $20 dollar co-pay and I’m set.
I had life saving surgery last year and I was treated like a king in the hospital.
My bill was $380,000 for open heart surgery and I paid $2,400 for all the co-pays and prescriptions.
No company can compete against the government, the government does not have to make a profit or pay taxes and can print their own money, private companies cannot.
90% of all patents, innovation, and development comes from the private sector not government.
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Health Care Plan will ELIMINATE private insurance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=related
July 17th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Would all this be considered "being put through garbage"?
UK Health Care:
Kidney cancer patients denied life-saving drugs by NHS rationing body NICE
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1174592/Kidney-cancer-patients-denied-life-saving-drugs-NHS-rationing-body-NICE.html
Girl, 3, has heart operation cancelled three times because of bed shortage
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6147701.ece
Number of children going to hospital to have teeth pulled soars by 66% since 1997
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1168911/Number-children-going-hospital-teeth-pulled-soars-66-1997.html
NHS ‘failings’ over elderly falls
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7960679.stm
Learning disabled ‘failed by NHS’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7959730.stm
Cancer survivor confronts the health secretary on 62-day wait
http://news.scotsman.com/health/Cancer-survivor-confronts-the-.5095291.jp
Children being failed by health system, says head of watchdog
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/mar/21/healthcare-commission-report-children
Canadian Health Care:
Surgery postponed indefinitely for 1,000 Kelowna patients
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FLAC.20080408.BCHEALTH08%2FTPStory%2FNational&ord=27434352&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true
Cancer patients question why PET scan not covered
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/05/28/pet-scan-ontario.html?ref=rss#skip300×250
Will Socialized Health Care in the US Kill Canadians?
http://blog.acton.org/archives/2220-Will-Socialized-Health-Care-in-the-US-Kill-Canadians.html
Wait times for surgery, medical treatments at all-time high: report
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/10/15/fraser-report.html
These are all examples of what happens when the government is put in charge of health care and competition is removed.
The people in question are at the mercy of government bureaucracy.
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July 17th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Look into how well the Government treats Vets and then tell me you want Govt healthcare.
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July 17th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Blue Shield has been great for the 26 years they’ve covered me and my GF loves her Kaiser coverage ( she’s cheap)
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We like our coverage and don’t want to be forced into some Medicade, free clinic type of care.
July 18th, 2010 at 12:44 am
Yeah just throw away the principles this country was founded on.. no big deal.
"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government." Thomas Jefferson
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July 18th, 2010 at 1:03 am
Because they, by and large, don’t put their customers through garbage. I at least have some recourse against them if they fail to honor their contract which I won’t have if the government decides I am not worth the investment that a procedure might cost..
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July 18th, 2010 at 1:13 am
You’re not clear on what you mean by "garbage," and if people have proper health insurance, they’re not going to go bankrupt.
I heard a man on the radio complain that his insurance didn’t cover him for a workplace injury. It turned out his injury was a repetative stress injury, which was not covered in his policy. When asked why he didn’t read his own insurance policy, he had no answer.
Hopefully, you don’t think it’s "garbage" for adults to read and understand contracts before they sign them.
As for development of medicine, that has nothing to do with the health insurance industry.
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July 18th, 2010 at 1:39 am
…ask anyone who uses the VA to see how great "Government Run Health Care" is…a hint it blows…it is all about saving money so they can give each other big bonuses at the end of the FY…it’s hurry up and wait a long time…it sucks, and you will soon find out how bad it sucks…if you live long enough…
By the way I love my Blue Cross Blue Shield…never had a problem with it and the payments are good…now tell my why I should pay for someone’s health care who made bad decisions again?
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Veteran
July 18th, 2010 at 1:54 am
People really should care more about the cost of care and not about insurance companies!! Insurance is just that Insurance and like ALL forms of insurance they have limits and maximums depending on the premiums you pay. Otherwise they would not even be able to exist at all. And what makes you think a "government" option is going to remove all the garbage.
Insurance is expensive because of all the mandates!! Example in NY a policy can’t be written that doesn’t include accupunture and many other treatments there is a list, why can’t a person just have a policy for life threating issues (cancer etc. ) and pay cash for normal Doctors visits??
Health insurance has little effect on development of medicine , this would be effected by limiting profits of drug compaines and such who develop things in the medical field
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July 18th, 2010 at 2:16 am
Well lets look at the "Flood Insurance".
Okay, at first there was an option.
Then the US government dropped the rates and the companies could not compete. Well guess what..The government took control of the Flood Insurance.
Now..
The US Government Flood insurance is deep in debt and is on the verge of collapse.
Hey..Nothing like watching anything the government takes over to manage go down the tubes.
Typical..
Please name ONE government program that has been managed properly with no fraud and theft in it. One that does not have 15 workers to do a 1 person job with all perk, high slalary and benefits.
Come on Name one..
Does one really believe the US government can manage this one. Talk about a big paper shuffling and side stepping operation. This will be the largest in the world.
Can you image calling one of their offices for assistance. Now that is funny. You can bet it will not be a toll free number.
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July 18th, 2010 at 2:45 am
most medical breakthroughs have come from sources other than health insurance companies, who do no research themselves, so any competition will not affect medical research or developments. Keep in mind, these insurance companies are middlemen only—they take premiums and pay doctors/hospitals, after taking their 20% profits off the top. These companies provide no useful purpose whatsoever. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Zip.
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July 18th, 2010 at 2:56 am
every other developed country in the world pretty much, has a national health care system. Surely its got to be better as a whole or why else would the other countries do it
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July 18th, 2010 at 3:46 am
Besides the multi-millions of jobs we will lose?
"And why is free enterprise more important than patients not going bankrupt and getting the care they need?"
It is easy to blame the insurance companies for everyones woes. Try to think of it like this, you do not like their service don’t buy it.
Yes everyone hears horror stories of the evil insurance company, just out to piss on patients graves. They make about 3% profit. Can you name another business which make that low of profits?
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July 18th, 2010 at 4:31 am
Actually very little of what people pay in premiums now go to research and innovation. The profit margin of Insurance that was made public is a hoak. You can see that by the way they are quoted incorrectly. Anything from 1 to 4% profit margin. The figures were put out by the Lewen Group. This group is funded by Insurance and Drug Companies but is referred to by many people in congress as a so called expert source. Do you see a conflict of interests here.?
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July 18th, 2010 at 4:48 am
"Would ending competition among health insurances affect development of medicine or would it remain the same?"
Competition among insurance companies has little to do with development of medicine as it stands right now. The two have nothing to do with each other.
Medications are developed by pharmaceutical companies who compete with each other to be the first company to develop a drug to cure what ever disease they are trying to help. Or by companies competing to develop a better drug than the last guy’s drug.
Once we have socialized medicine where the government tells the pharmaceutical companies, "We will only pay you $4.00 for a 30 day supply of your drug." the pharmaceutical industry will die.
Pharmaceutical companies have huge investments in research, development and product testing. They hire highly trained, highly educated and highly in demand employees. Pharmaceutical companies pay top dollar for equipment, technology, resources and materials. They typically have to invent the technology and equipment to allow them to invent the actual procedures to allow themselves to invent the drugs.
Once the government says, "We are only going to pay your $6.00 for that." Advancements in our health care will stop….
Why does health care cost more today than 50 years ago? Because we have drugs, technology, procedural developments and knowledge we didn’t have 50 years ago.
Why was health care more expensive 50 years than it was 100 years before that? Hospital care with antibotics cost more than blood lettings and leaches…
Why is the United States the leader in development of new mecical procedures, technologies, and pharmaceuticals? Why aren’t the countries with these fantastic socialised health care programs the leaders in these areas of the medical profession?
Because their government can only pay for so much. They can’t pay for advancement in health care while they are struggling to pay for yesterday’s treatment options.
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