Re: Our Current Healthcare Nightmare This is the bottom line, folks. It's not just the poor who are not getting coverage. Any one of us can be dropped by our insurance companies or have them refuse to pay out.
Re: Our Current Healthcare Nightmare do those countries insure non-citizens? illegals? permanent resident aliens? i doubt they insure illegals? maybe PR aliens. that 46 mil should be dropped about 15 mil. i think if B.O. came out and said he wouldnt include illegal aliens it would be easier to get something passed. (he hasnt said that has he?)
Re: Our Current Healthcare Nightmare So? What's new? Insurance companies are not charitable organizations. They are in it to make money. Insuring bad risks means losing money (and jobs for the underwriters taking on those poor risks). Insurers don't drop insureds or deny coverage arbitrarily. There are strict laws against bad faith claims practices and State Insurance Commissioners are bulldogs when a complaint is made. Don't act like this is a phenomenon of the economic conditions. It's the reality of insurance. You want the government to step in and do something about the high cost of health care. Fine. Go after the sleazy malpractice attorneys and the so called medical practitioners who practice nothing but collecting all they can from Medicare. You cannot be that naive as to believe that the government can actually come up with an efficient plan. It would certainly be a first. And doing nothing is an option. All Obama wants is control of every bit of our lives and you are dancing along to his music. The goals are admirable but it it takes a complete idiot to think Obama, Pelosi, Reid et al can pull it off. America is on to those bastards.
How can anyone claim the US has a good healthcare system when sick people who have lost their job can't get coverage??? That is the very definition of a healthcare system that is broken and in serious need of reform. If the insurance companies are in it to make money, and I believe they are, then is that the way we want our healthcare run. It meets the needs of mostly well folks cause it doesn't cost them too much?? We have public education and it works. Most of us are products of the public education system. It's not the best, if you have lots of money you can go to a private school and get better. But everybody DESERVES an education. I say everybody DESERVES to be treated decently when they are sick. Other industrialized nations prove it can be done, and everyone can be covered, at a lower total cost relative to the GDP than we currently are spending. That's what we should do. Why should the profiteering of the insurance company be the driver is deciding who gets what health treatment? That seems stupid.
you are confused. this is not about creating a healtcare system that is better, this is about maintaining a capitalistic ideal. i dont want my $$$ to go to helping needy people. let them do it their damn selves.
Re: Our Current Healthcare Nightmare Many disagree with this. Insurance companies are sued regularly for unfair practices. I agree, but insurance profiteering must be gone after as well. Yeah, you can stand another doubling in the 10-15 years you have left. But the youngsters here will be paying more for their insurance than for their mortgages before they are 50. You do understand the term, unsustainable? Get real.
It's hard to respond to a post that makes absolutely no sense. . Wow, we're learning something today. Insurance companies don't pay everything they are asked to pay and people sue them. Who knew? People sue doctors and hospitals regularly too. Doesn't mean they are at fault. Those unfair practice lawsuits against insurance companies are usually filed by people who have a beef and, like you apparently, have little understanding of how insurance works. Ah yes. Those dirty profiteers. How dare they try to make money. What does this look like? A free country? Hey I know. Let's sic Obama on them. Even better...Government run insurance. You mean those youngsters who will be shouldering a 10 trillion dollar deficit? Unfortunately I know very well what unsustainable means. How about the way the government has run Social Security and Medicare. I don't care if I have 1 year left (and thanks for killing me off at 75. That'll save the government some medical dollars) the point is that government intrusion into our lives must be nipped in the bud. Banks, auto companies, medical system, the climate and energy? Where does it end? If insurance premiums are too high, people will shop around for something cheaper. Let the free market get rid of the unfair practitioners. It's worked for 200 years. Sadly, I am being real.
Insurance companies also often don't want to pay what they are obligated to pay and they lose those lawsuits. See Crips post. It's a balance thing. Tort reform can't abridge a parties right to sue if they are wronged. It should just discourage trivial lawsuits, excessive lawyer fees, and overstuffed settlements.
For the past 16 years I have led a team of claims auditors, who do nothing but review closed claims files, including medical malpractice claims, for conformance with best practices. My team looks at 13 different offices around the country. Best practices include handling a claim in good faith. If we see someone trying to be a "hero" and save money on a claim that is clearly owed, they are penalized for it. Bad faith claims handling will not be tolerated. This is true of the entire industry.In short, you are full of crap on this. Stick to subjects that you know you know something about.
Why does it make no sense? There are modern nations, many of them, that cover everyone in the country and spend 10% of GDP while we spend 17% of GDP and only cover 83%. If you are sick, the insurance company can deny you coverage because you're sick. If you are covered and get sick, you can be terminated ("purged" is the ins. term) on a technicality. I don't see a profit motive in public education, and it works. You can get better in private for-profit schools, but most of us can't afford it and most of us don't go there. We need BOTH solutions. In stead of hiding behind a non-answer, go ahead and take a shot.
