Private Health Insurance Is America's Most Organized Crime

[appalachiablue]

- Daily Kos, April 9, 2022. -Ed.

There is no agreement on a single solution to health care’s high price tag. Even supporters of the Affordable Care Act acknowledged that. This is a good thing, since controlling costs will require a more comprehensive effort than the Affordable Care Act. If the rate of escalation in health care spending and health insurance premiums continues at current trends, the cost of inaction will continue to decimate employers' bottom lines and consumers' pocketbooks.

Although the 2 current intertwined pandemics (COVID-19 and anti-vaxx psychosis) have skewed so much, the principles remain intact. We all know who the health care players are – doctors and nurses, hospitals and clinics, drug companies and pharmacies, medical equipment manufacturers, health insurance companies, ambulance services and paramedics, physical therapists, and hospices, etc. All contribute to your health care… almost. The exception has been bleeding us dry for decades, and we must destroy it before it destroys us. Furthermore, no health insurance policy will help.

That is because the health insurance industry is the leech. But it’s not an industry in any productive sense of the word. It’s more like a protection racket, draining off billions of dollars in exchange for nothing. The driving force is the same as all commerce, maximizing profits. The Republican Party has been bought and paid for by this syndicate. And the Party’s task is to keep this operation going, to protect the syndicate’s existence and to ensure that impediments to maximizing profits are kept to a minimum. Unfortunately for the health insurance cabal and its minions in Congress, the single most effective change will be the creation of a single payer health insurance system and the eradication of the health insurance cabal. “AHA! Another leftie who hates the free market!” I hear you screaming.

No. Free markets have gotten more goods and services to more people, often at the lowest possible costs, and in the shortest time. But anyone who thinks the free market can meet all of society’s needs to think again. Consider your local firefighters. Before we had municipal fire departments, firefighting was chaotic. Until the mid-1800’s, we endured a jumble of private fire insurance companies and inconsistent volunteer fire companies. Firefighting was unreliable, inconsistent, and often conducted by drunks who engaged in looting as much as fighting fires. The Martin Scorsese epic “Gangs of New York” included scenes depicting just what firefighters used to be.

By contrast, today’s municipal fire departments are dependable, effective and professional. They’re single-payer. And it works!...

- More + Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/9/2090991/-Private-Health-Insurance-is-America-s-most-organized-crime

- SELECT COMMENTS:

- Funny you should describe this system as a syndicate because I was just thinking the exact thought the other day! That's what it feels like a criminal syndicate. Paid protection, but without the guarantee of said protection. A middle man that really serves no purpose but to siphon money from the customer. But they get to ultimately decide what care they are willing to pay for. What a crazy, unconscionable way to run health care!

- Now with hi deductible plans, people are avoiding basic care to avoid the high out of pocket expenses. This means cancers, heart disease, and many other problems won’t be caught early, which will drive up costs and kill people. But driving up costs is the whole point of the private health insurance industry. Preserving human life and preventing misery are not part of the design. More disease means higher premiums, more medications, more high cost equipment.

- I’ve been shouting this up for years! Health ‘care’ MUST NOT be profit-based. This is why, when the ACA was passed and insurance companies were forced — FORCED, I tell ya — to pay 81 cents of every premium dollar ON the client… Heads exploded! (o wait, is that covered in your policy?) WHUUUT? Forty cents of each dollar wasn’t enough?! Stockholders screeched and insurance corporation owners screeched, but yeah, the ACA even with all it’s foibles, has worked for those paying in. What we need is Healthcare ASSURANCE. Let’s bring this on, FINALLY.

[KPN]

1. K & R for visibility.

Not too many years ago, this WAS the issue of the day. So much crap going on here and globally today, health costs are just another among many mounting issues that could ultimately topple human society as we know it here in the USA. But like all the other crap, this is too important to lose sight of. It’s important to keep shining the light on the absurdity of our overall health care system.

Keep on keeping on!

[appalachiablue]

4. +1 Well said!

[barbaraann]

2. I could not agree more. n/t

[redstatebluegirl]

3. Plus 100 I am going to have to deal with those thieves

again next year for back surgery. Medicare is not the answer either.

[Mr. Evil]

5. I've said it before

and I'll say it again. Health insurance companies are nothing but legal skim operations. They should all be abolished as an ongoing crime against humanity. And their shareholders can all go fuck themselves!

[Evolve Dammit]

6. We are hostages to health care, unless you choose not to see Drs. Insurance companies in general.

Health care is the biggest reason for bankruptcy in U.S. Then there is "higher education" and the obscene soaring costs associated. Oh and utilities, rent, food. All becoming unsustainable but that doesn't bother the markets or the folks that can afford it all. Wealth gap is accelerating like "Runaway Train" (good movie BTW). If you want a really good documentary check out "The Corporation." Winner of 36 international awards.

[appalachiablue]

7. You covered things well. Housing, college educ. debt, more. I'll

check out the films, The Corp. sounds familiar. Humans are a lot of work.

[Evolve Dammit]

8. It's a really great documentary and interjects just enough humor to keep you from killing yourself!

It's very eye-opening but reveals how morally bankrupt any "corporation" actually is.

[Evolve Dammit]

9. And Runaway Train is just a good white knuckle thriller!