What they are really doing on the attack on insurance companies
Look, I get as frustrated as anyone, sometimes, by my health insurance company. Forms to fill out, quirky benefit denials, frustrating phone calls. But Obama’s attack on insurance companies appears to be an insidious plan to have everyone “covered” under some form of national health care (something you don’t want, believe me.) He says that you will have “free choice” but look what he is proposing:
1. Eliminate the right of an insurance company to deny coverage to someone based on a preexisting condition.
Think about this…. the government would be telling a business that they must accept a customer (in fact, all customers.) The must do so regardless of the profitability of that customer…or whether that customer will be a guaranteed loss. This is craziness. This makes the insurance company the slave to the customer. It makes the rest of the insurance company’s customers slaves to those with preexisting conditions who they (with their premium dollar) must cover. What insurance company would want to keep playing that game?
2. Ban an insurance company from imposing a limit on benefits.
Huh? So the government is going to say to a business that it has no right to set the terms of engagement with a voluntary contract entered into by a willing customer and a willing business? That’s very scary. Insurance companies exist to make a profit. All businesses should exist to make a profit. How can it be otherwise? Not only is there nothing wrong with profit, there’s nothing wrong with LOTS of profit. Consumers have a choice.. .they can choose to go with one business or another. If all businesses in any industry charge “too much” (whatever that is) them there’s an opporunity for another business to enter the market place and charge less.
But back to my main point. What insurance company would want to stay in the game if they are forced to accept “all comers” and they don’t have the ability to limit their exposure to huge claims? You got it–none… Thus, by way of “rule changing” the government eliminates private companies from the market place, leaving it the sole source provider of health insurance (and with it health decisions for you.)
Bad ideas.
A few points:
1. If insurance companies really want to have the market control things, perhaps we ought to consider doing away with their antitrust exemption.
2. While we are making them compete, we should also do away with the ERISA based protections that health insurers have so that the contracts they make are actually enforceable. If you consider the chances of these first few proposals going through, you come to realize the insurance companies really do not want to compete in the market place.
3. Medicare is a huge government run health care program, and I don’t see it getting in the way of providing seniors with all the health care they ever want. Medicare along with Social Security is the third rail of American politics. It may be that no one loves Medicare, but few on Medicare are wanting for access to care.
4. I do see private health insurers impact the health care decisions people make on a regular basis. The bureaucrat between you and your doctor now is not employed by the government, but by the health insurer that wants to make a buck off your premiums.
I do not have great handle on what is being proposed and am not sure that in the end I’ll agree with it. It is worth considering changing the structure for how health care is provided in this country because it has become enormously expensive and does not provide adequate access to care for many.