Government Health Care - Too Expensive - Too Controlling - Too Important. Part Two

The US Government in the Health Insurance business? The arguments, when you can get down to those that are A) Real and B) Relevant, are varied. I've had a bit of difficulty drilling down to this list but think I've come to the gist of it. In part one we discussed the costs, in this entry we will review the 'Too Controlling' issue.


It will be too controlling! I don't want GOVERNMENT in charge of my body! They can't be trusted with anything.


I could take this more seriously if we were living in Iran or Burma, where 'President for Life' is no joke. But we're not. We get to elect our government. If we don't like the job they do, we don't vote for them. What control do you think you have over CEOs of the corporation that own YOUR health insurance company? You'd need to hold or at least have influence over 51% or more of the corporate stock to have any say at all. A government run program designed and overseen by people YOU elect, or a corporate entity who's stated purpose and legal obligation is to secure profits?

But lets take a look around, just to be sure:


U.S. Health Care Puts Profit Over People
Modern medicine has morphed from a healing profession into a business where the primacy of profit takes precedence over greater human needs. Trusting relationships with medical professionals have taken a back seat to efficiency standards as patients are rushed through doctors’ offices. Physicians for a Seattle P.I. 2007


Harvard Researchers Say Insurers Put Profits Over Health
More than a decade after Harvard researchers first revealed that life and health insurance companies were major investors in tobacco stocks - prompting calls upon them to divest - the insurance industry has yet to kick the habit, they say. Medical News Today 2009


McConnell Puts Profits Over People Yet Again
Fifty million people are one tragedy away from bankruptcy because of the greed and excess of the insurance companies and who does McConnell side with?? The insurance companies of course. I mean, he has his taxpayer funded coverage, so why should he care about the taxpayer?? He can not even respect us enough to make a dental appointment. Hillbilly Report 2009


Blue Cross Praised Employees who Dropped Sick Policyholders, Lawmaker Says
The state's largest for-profit health insurer told The Times 18 months ago that it did not tie employee performance evaluations to rescission activity. And executives with Blue Cross parent company WellPoint Inc. reiterated that position today. But documents obtained by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and released today show that the company's employee performance evaluation program did include a review of rescission activity. Los Angeles Times 2009

The Journal - Profits Over People
Bill Moyer hosts former insurance insider Wendell Potter on Health Care Reform.






And now for a sub-category of 'It's too controlling' -


It's Un-American Socialism! Private opportunity and and the free market are the American Way!

So, you're a 'Free Marketer', are you? Well so am I. But this country hasn't seen a "Free Market" in decades. When corporations with profits larger than that of most countries employ media companies, lawyers and lobbyists that outspend local efforts $15-1, utilize psychologically designed media, file frivolous lawsuits and make bribes to government officials, there is no "Free Market" only a "for sale to the highest bidder" market. If we were still a developing country, I might find that the proposed "gist" of the reform legislation and it's costs would be too much to bear. But we are not. The only thing we spend more on in America than health care is military, and we outspend every other country on the planet 20 times over for our military. However our military dominates the world, our health care does not.

Government Health Care - Too Expensive - Too Controlling - Too Important

The US Government in the Health Insurance business? The arguments, when you can get down to those that are A) Real and B) Relevant, are varied. I've had a bit of difficulty drilling down to this list but think I've come to the gist of it.

It will be too expensive. Not only will it cost more for taxpayers and employers, but private insurance holders will see premium increases!

I didn't find much data to back up any part of this statement. I expected to find short term, up front increases with long term and periphery cost decreases. What I in fact found was both short and long term savings, and with periphery costs (lower overall costs to treat due to better health resulting from access to health care, less costs due to decreasing stress levels) included the savings would be enough to make an oil company drool with envy.

Survey Shows Private Health Insurance Premiums Rose 11.2% in 2004
Premiums Increased at Five Times The Rate of Growth in Workers’ Earnings and Inflation. About Five Million Fewer Workers Covered By Their Own Employer’s Health Insurance Since 2001. Kaiser Family Foundation

The average health insurance premium costs 84% of average unemployment benefits.

In the U.S., job insecurity equals health insecurity. Without significant subsidies to buy into COBRA, most unemployed workers will also quickly morph into uninsured workers. Healthpopuli .com

Health Insurance Premiums Continue to Soar.

For the seventh straight year, premiums for employer-based health insurance rose more than twice as fast as overall inflation and wages, an annual survey of employers shows. (2006) McClatchy Newspapers

Premiums for job-offered health insurance up 5% this year.

Workers face more cost-sharing in the form of higher deductibles and co-pays. (2008) American Medical News

And then there are the peripherals....

Health Care Scandal has Real Victims. The U.S. health care system is an open scandal. We devote far more of our national income to health care than any other industrial nation. Yet we get worse results -- higher child mortality, higher deaths from breast cancer, less prevention and more expense. If you have wealth, the best medicine in the world is available to you. If you are poor, or increasingly a middle- or low-income family, too often you will lack insurance or be vastly under insured. You will forgo costly tests and let illnesses fester until they become debilitating. Chicago Sun Times

Hidden Costs of Health Care Report. Rising deductibles, Higher Co-payments and Escalating out of pocket costs. Healthreform .gov

The cost of job stress to American industry is estimated at $150 billion per year thru absenteeism, lower productivity, health insurance and medical expenses. Examinetics

And it turns out that a large portion of the profits you provide these companies is being spent to ensure they can continue squeezing the turnip that is apparently you.

Pharmaceutical Companies


Insurance Companies

That's it for part one, "It's too expensive!" Stay tuned for "It's too Controlling!"

May 30th: National Day of Action For Single Payer

SarahLee's diary ::

Nationwide Rallies for Improved Medicare for All

Join thousands of single-payer supporters in a nationwide week of action to support improved Medicare for all (HR 676). Single-payer activists will be gathering all over the country to say, "Healthcare, yes; Insurance companies, no," and to show solidarity with demonstrations at the AHIP (American Health Insurance Plans, a private health insurance lobby) conference in San Diego.

If an action isn't already in your city, plan your own day of action! It can be a town hall meeting, demonstration in front of a local insurance company, film showing, vigil, or your own unique idea. Let us know what you'd like to start planning by contacting info@healthcare-now.org.
47 million Americans are uninsured. Private insurance rates are rising faster than inflation and our incomes. By 2025 the cost of private health insurance will exceed our projected income. A national, single-payer healthcare system is the only healthcare reform option that will cover every American resident while saving us billions of dollars. The majority of Americans want it. The majority of physicians want it. The only thing missing is the political will in Washington.

Demonstration Locations

Planning is happening in:
Albany, NY - May 27th Atlana, GA - May 27th Augusta, ME - May 30th Austin, TX - May 30th Billings, MT - May 16th Boston, MA - May 30th Chicago, IL - June 2nd Denver, CO - May 30th Elmwood Park, NJ - June 5 Fenton, MI - May 21st Gainesville, FL - May 28th & 30th Greeley, CO - May 30th Indianapolis, IN - May 20th Lawrence, KS - May 30th Los Angeles, CA - TBA Louisville, KY - May 28th Middleton, CT - May 28th New Albany, IN - May 30th New York City, NY - May 30th Philadelphia, PA - May 30th Pittsburgh, PA - May 29th Phoenix, AZ - May 30th Pontiac, MI - June 16th Portland, OR - May 27th Princeton, NJ - May 31st Rochester, NY - May 30th San Diego, CA - June 3rd San Francisco, CA - TBA Seattle, WA - May 30th Springfield, MA - May 27th Tampa, FL - TBA Topeka, KS - May 30th Towson, MD - May 30th Wheaton, MD - May 30th

Click here to get more info from DailyKos http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/18/732752/-May-30th:-National-Day-of-Action-For-Single-Payer


Take a little time out of your day to learn how it can be done, and IS being done, in five democracies around the world. Click here, and watch Frontline's 'Sick Around the World', get details on the five countries already providing this stabilizing, cost cutting service to their citizens.


United Kingdom

An interview with an expert on the UK's system +
Percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on health care: 8.3
Average family premium: None; funded by taxation.
Co-payments: None for most services; some co-pays for dental care, eyeglasses and 5 percent of prescriptions. Young people and the elderly are exempt from all drug co-pays.


Japan

An interview with an expert on Japan's system +
Percentage of GDP spent on health care: 8
Average family premium: $280 per month, with employers paying more than half.
Co-payments: 30 percent of the cost of a procedure, but the total amount paid in a month is capped according to income.


Germany

An interview with an expert on Germany's system +
Percentage of GDP spent on health care: 10.7
Average family premium: $750 per month; premiums are pegged to patients' income.
Co-payments: 10 euros ($15) every three months; some patients, like pregnant women, are exempt.


Taiwan

An interview with an expert on Taiwan's system +
Percentage GDP spent on health care: 6.3
Average family premium: $650 per year for a family for four.
Co-payments: 20 percent of the cost of drugs, up to $6.50; up to $7 for outpatient care; $1.80 for dental and traditional Chinese medicine. There are exemptions for major diseases, childbirth, preventive services, and for the poor, veterans, and children.


Switzerland

An interview with an expert on Switzerland's system +
Percentage of GDP spent on health care: 11.6
Average monthly family premium: $750, paid entirely by consumers; there are government subsidies for low-income citizens.
Co-payments: 10 percent of the cost of services, up to $420 per year.