Insurance companies made money on whole life policies for years, knowing full well that EVERYONE dies. Pay level payments for x years and at some point the policy is paid in full. What we are seeing is that insurance companies are treating health insurance like a term policy except they can raise rates at anytime. It is kinda like a predatory practice like loansharking. I am pretty much a free market person, don't want government sponsored insurance (Check out what has happened to the vets of our armed forces "lifetime" plans if you think private insurance is bad), but greed being greed, people are being taken advantage of.
Insurance policies are contracts. The terms are spelled out. There are no arbitrary rate increases. Premiums rates are highly regulated. The Heathcare vs. Insurance debate is a smokescreen. Insurance rates increase precisely because health care costs increase. If the price of a barrel of oil goes up, the cost of gasoline goes up. If the price of sugar goes up, the price of candy goes up. Same thing. There is no insidious plot to screw the American public.
I'm with you so far. We have enough of them now to please most people. More private providers will be available as states and counties can close charity hospitals and free clinics, which is true socialized medicine. Maybe even the poorly-run VA can revert to handling wartime casualties and allow vets to have health insurance allowing them to go to the doctors/hospitals of their choice. It's not Canadian-style government clinics, its the American private provider system with some government input and regulation. Healthcare is already rationed by the insurance companies, just listen to the horror stories of uncovered illnesses, dropped coverage, and denied treatments. One day it is "the government is too inefficient and expensive to run health care", the next day it's "private insurers will not be able to compete with the Government". Likely, its a bit of both and will be a wash. Like the Post Office/FedEx each will have certain appeal to certain parcel shippers and both are available to choose from. Unsubstantiated speculation. It is just as likely, should the health plan fail, to revert to the current private insurance/public gulag-style charity hospitals and clinics system. An incomplete one. Why did you delete the rest of his response? Sounds good to me. I'm not shooting it down yet for the same reason.
My issue is with the change in terms, they may be regulated, but the adjustments can be particularly onerous. A major flaw in what I was thinking is that if you bought a whole life policy in 1960 for $50,000, your survivors get $50,000. That sum is fixed by contract and isn't adjusted for inflation. I don't think anyone wants to buy a fixed amount of healthcare, they want to be covered for any contingency. We are wanting to control cost without giving up anything by increasing the scope of coverage. But the devil in the details is that nothing comes without a cost.
If you don't have full or even partial coverage you can still get the treament, though. You don't have to go untreated and die. Health insurers have gone to a system of pre approval and that is because of the skyrocketing costs of healthcare. But you are naive if you think it won't get worse with Gubmint Bureaucrats running the show. Right out of the Obama playbook. You're starting to sound like him. Quite simply, if one is giving it away and another is selling, the one selling cannot compete with the one giving it away. It's not rocket science, Red. With a record deficit, bankruptcy and inflation, because Obama is going to spend every last dollar we have to try and make this work. I heard the entire response and it was non-specific. He offered nothing in the way of how he was going to magically have Gov't and private insurers work hand in hand to the mutual benefit of everybody. It was a campaign speech. That's what they said at Pearl Harbor.
You cannot compare a Whole Life policy to a Health insurance policy. 2 entirely different concepts. If you by a $50,000 SUV and total it 5 years later would you expect the Insurance company to pay you the $50K? They'd go broke in a hurry. I wonder how many people puff on their cigarettes and bitch about the cost of healthcare and insurance.
Right out of the Limbaugh playbook. Again you try to have it both ways. Just above you state that the Government can't control costs and be effective like industry, then you turn around and state that industry can't compete with the government! It cannot be both, either industry can compete with government or it can't. You cannot take both sides of a mutually exclusive logical point. Sorry, I ain't about to let SabanFan characterize an Obama statement and give it any credibility. Post the transcript and we can make up our own minds.
You're absolutely right. Insurance IS a business. I never claimed it wasn't. I never said INSURANCE should change the way they do business. As a business, they're completely justified in lowering risk and maximizing profits. There's nothing about this that I need to get through "my thick skull." Nice straw man approach, though. What I said is that leaving our healthcare to capitalism only is a broken system. I find treating a child for asthma to be on a little different level than going to buy lumber at Lowe's.
I watched the whole town hall and on that question, from the political science major in college about how private could compete with the govt., Obama did not answer the question. I'll agree with SF. The point was that govt. did not pay income tax, or property tax. I think the question is an oversimplification, private compete with govt. (how) was not specified. Obama is correct that FedEx and UPS compete with the postal service every day and they make money at it. It is possible. To an extent, ask a bad question, don't frame it or give it enough context, you may get a bad answer.
WTF are you talking about? I agreed that health insurers are being selective but pointed out that it's because of the increasing costs of care. I'm saying that the Government will face the same problems but historically, Government run progams have turned into a cluster FK. The 2nd, entirely different point is that private cannot compete on a level field with Government. People won't pay for something they can get for free. You initially led me to believe that you heard the exchange and had a basis for disagreeing. You are just assuming I spun it. Well I heard it and if you want a transcript, look it up yourself. Besides, Houtiger (see below) heard it and verifies what I posted, although he put a remarkable leftist spin to it, lest he admit the truth.
