NYT : Insurance premiums could spike as much as 40 percent next year

[TexasTowelie]

27. I think that there are more that benefit than just the "very few."

Yes, you may have to pay premiums, co-pays, and deductibles and it appears the fact that you also have to pay them has lead you not to visit the doctor on frivolous occasions. I consider that to be a very good thing that many people benefit from. It means that we keep the staffing levels at hospitals at reasonable ratios instead of being over-staffed--I know that for a fact because my brother is a respiratory therapist who used to sleep on the job when he worked at a hospital.

Do we really want to double or triple the number of hospital workers when they aren't actually doing any work or caring for patients? Do we spend more money educating physicians that aren't actually needed? That seems like a tremendous waste of resources that offers little to no benefit to society. I've personally worked in positions where I was no longer needed and there is nothing more psychologically depressing than to go to a job where the only thing to do was busy work or writing procedure manuals.

Griping about an insurance company making a profit seems very petty in my opinion--we don't condemn other businesses that make profits at rates that far exceed the profit levels of health insurance companies. All of the current policyholders benefit (not the "very few&quot whether or not they meet their annual deductibles because the insurance companies verify the credentials of the providers and adjust their networks to ensure quality care--that is something not likely to occur in a government run system where the incentive is to find the lowest cost provider (which already occurs in practices that no longer accept Medicare and Medicaid patients because of the low reimbursement rates). The current insurance system also allows for adjustments much more rapidly to changing conditions versus a system where every health care worker is a government employee who are essentially given jobs for life with the possibility that they may never be needed. What a drain on society! I think that pain would extend much farther than the pain because some people file bankruptcies.

I've been on private insurance (gold-level plans) and government health care plans (barely enough to sustain my life, but I'm five years overdue for a colonoscopy). The difference in quality of care was evident and I would certainly enjoy having the private insurance again so you will definitely not find me complaining about private health insurance even if it isn't perfect.