Obama at GOP Retreat - Same Rhetoric Different Day

2/16/2010 12:50:47 PM #

Brad-
Back to disagreeing with you again, I knew it wouldn't last.
We need health care reform. You already have managed health care, it is just disguised as HMOs, or network providers, or some other term that denies customers the services they are paying for, or at the worse, they deny you coverage all together. The top 10 insurance companies in the US over the last 10 years accrued profits of over $475 billion dollars. That's an average of $4.75 billion per year per company. Profit.
Is that because they found new ways to find economy of scale or a break through processes that allows their customers to get their services cheaper? No, it was because they denied services to their customers more efficiently by refusing to pay for services that were "not life threatening" or "not covered in network" or "not part of coverage" etc. The insurance companies don't deny services because they can't pay for it, they do it because they don't want to pay for it and it helps them accrue large profits.
Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with insurance companies turning a profit but somewhere along the line, profit became the impetus for how these companies are run as opposed to providing services to their clients.
We need the government to do it because they are the only ones who are a big enough bully to get anything significant done.
We need both parties to agree on how it should be done because it is the only way we can get an effective bill passed.
I am disappointed in President Obama, not because we don't need health care reform and the American people don't want it. I am upset because he hasn't hammered a bill that will do the things he said he was going to do because we should want it and many sure need it.
Lastly, ask yourself who you are defending here. Many of our congressional leaders are in bed with insurance company PACs and that is why they have messed up the bill here by outright opposing everything(Republicans) or muddying the waters with stupidity(Democrats) , not because they are listening to the people.

Dave Crowley | Reply

2/16/2010 12:52:54 PM #

Sorry, bad math, $4.75 billion for all 10 companies.

Dave Crowley | Reply

2/23/2010 6:38:27 AM #

Brad, I am not sure where you are getting the 3% profit number but here are some declarations from the Insurance Information Institute:
The insurance industry reported record profits in 2006. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), property-casualty insurers' profits increased $24 billion dollars from 2005 to 2006. In 2005, they earned profits of $49 billion; in 2006, that number increased to $73 billion! These figures are causing many to ask, 'Why are insurance industry profits so high?'

What analysts are saying

According to insurance industry analysts, insurance companies have increased their profits in three ways:

-Increased premiums. Insurance companies have increased their premiums across the board. The III reported that profits in the property-casualty lines have increased by an annual average of 46% since 1994.
-Paying fewer claims. Insurance companies have also decreased the amount of paid claims. Again, across the board. The III reported that property-casualty insurers paid out 64% of the premiums they received on claims in 1994. In 2006, that number dropped to 55%.
-Jumping ship. After a significant loss, insurance companies often jump ship. For example, many insurers will no longer insure homeowners in the southern states ravaged by Hurricane Katrina because of the significant losses they realized. Simply eliminating a book of business in these areas, while certainly their right, often leaves homeowners scrambling to find alternatives.  

I am sure you and I could go back and forth about what profits are citing different sources but this was as internal-to-the-business and unbiased source I could find. Not to mention record bonuses paid to CEOs of the top insurance companies.
By the way, I love the idea another reader had about accounts for each individual, because it offers everything we need and offers a way out for any one individual. However, it isn't liberals who would hate the idea, it is the politicians, liberal or conservative, who are in the insurance industry pockets.  
Lastly, Pres. Obama never advocated free health care for all, only those who can not afford it. determined by income.

Dave Crowley | Reply