Do you care if the for profit insurance industry is "killed?"

[Skidmore]

I don't. Not one whit.

This is the concern of the free marketeer supporting legislators, per Schuster.

I don't give a damn if there is ever any other sanctioned death ponzi scheme like insurance ever again on the planet. Are we making this clear enough to the legislators? I think not.

[mikelgb]

1. Nope. I don't care to protect the jobs of those who kill people for money.

[FormerDittoHead]

120. +1 And similiarly I wouldn't have a problem if our defense budget was cut 50%...

I can only imagine what our country and the world would be like if we had used, for all of these years, a fraction of that money to make other things.

[katkat]

147. defense budget

hear, hear. A 50% cut is probably not nearly enough. How about making it, oh, a defense budget and not an offense budget. And a sensible one at that.

[gopiscrap]

152. I agree, an 85% cut would be more like it!

[lunatica]

2. I care deeply about having them killed once and for all

[PreacherCasey]

134. Seconded

[ingac70]

3. Nope...

they don't care if individual people die, so why should I care if their business dies?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. I'd rather prefer it. (nt)

[beac]

201. Me too. Profiting by gambling with the health of others is immoral and should be illegal. n/t

[MNDemNY]

5. Almost as much as I care whether or not Rush Limpballs draws another breath.

Almost.

[marmar]

6. R.B.N.I.P.

Rest But Not In Peace


I'd love to see the insurance industry go :nuke:

[csziggy]

7. No - they don't mind killing children to make a profit, why should I care if they survive?

[Chulanowa]

8. Off with their heads

America has no room for theft and blackmail as "respectable business"

[Cant trust em]

9. I don't care, but it's also not my motivation.

I'm not concerned about profit if the service is good.

But their service isn't good and is in fact predatory, so they should be heavily regulated.

[Libertas1776]

10. If the insurance companies were

a person, I would make sure they'd receive what they deserve...a short drop and a sudden stop from a gallows.

[HillbillyBob]

158. The shorter the rope the longer the strangle......

The longer rope snaps the neck, the short one just hangs and strangles.
The CEOs should be sentenced to do the shit work that a lot of us have to do just to survive let alone afford their 'services'.

Medicare for all!!

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Hell, I'd love to help pull the switch.

Edit: Or would 'pull the plug' be the more appropriate phrase?

[Skidmore]

12. I find it interesting that someone actually unreced this thread.

More than once.

[Enthusiast]

111. Stealth Republicans. nt

[corkhead]

13. I don't "care"... I hope.

[old mark]

14. I have heard every excuse from health insurance companies for taking my money

and providing no service: Pre-existing condition, limited coverage, lifetime maximum, too-expensive medication, and lately, complete denial of coverage because I had chest surgery (bypass). NO ONE will cover you if you had a bypass except Blue Cross, for nearly $900 a month.
I am cheering for them to die, but first I'd like them to pay back some of what they stole from us all - a few billion should start to do it.

mark

[waiting for hope]

15. I don't - they have no moral obligations other

than to their bottom line. I would equate them to the mafia of the early 20's, instead of Tommy guns, they use "denying coverage" letters instead.

[T Wolf]

16. The death of the insurance corps is the best thing that could ever happen to medical care.

But it is not going to happen - at least, not in my lifetime.

They own too many politicians, including most on "our" side.

Now, if there were real Democrats sitting in the seats with Ds on the back, it might happen. But the current group of sell-outs started with a no-gain position and "compromised" from there.

Just imagine if the fight was truly between the do-nothing pukes and a Democratic party pushing true reform, i.e., single-payer universal care. Instead, we are hoping for a practically-worthless "public option" that is truly a step backwards.

And the Dems will suffer at the polls, next year and in 2012 as a result of their treason against the American people.

[eShirl]

17. It's not high on my list of concerns.

[SalviaBlue]

18. I want them "killed,"

[AndyA]

19. That industry doesn't care about people dying because of their actions.

Why should we care if it impacts them?

They will have to change their business plan, become consumer friendly, competitive, and offer better service than the others. If any of them can manage that, they will survive. (Their CEO might have to get by on a measly $4-5 million a year, instead of $24 million, though.)

[jmondine]

20. It would be a case of self defense.

[smoogatz]

21. They won't die off entirely.

Hell, there are private insurers making money in lots of countries with single payer right now, selling premium or "Cadillac" coverage to the wealthy. If a mere public option kills our domestic insurers, they deserve to die.

[Cleita]

22. I'm praying for it. Insurance will not die, they will just find another

market. I would like to see selling insurance for basic health care made illegal. If they want to market add-on policies for bells and whistles, fine, but leave basic health care to Medicare or hopefully HR 676 as basic health care.

[rucky]

23. Not at all. But we should do something to help the laid-off paper-pushers

get honest jobs.

[dbonds]

24. Yes I care, I want it to happen.

[jgraz]

187. +1

[Jkid]

25. I really don't give a damn.

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/acen_otaku_sexiness/KILL%20IT%20WITH%20FIRE!.jpg

[TheKentuckian]

26. No, I don't and have never cared in the least but I could live with their existence IF they were

honest brokers in the process. My concerns are the American people having affordable access to effective health services. If the industry can turn a new leaf and do what they are paid for then that's fine but the last several generations of actions don't indicate much hope for that. So, at this time my vote is to recover the 15-27% of our lost health care dollars they dip out of the stream.

[Raineyb]

27. I care. I really want to see it happen. n/t

[Vincardog]

28. Had I the power I would DEMAND it

[calimary]

29. No. Absolutely not. This should NOT be a "for-profit" ANYTHING when it comes to

people's health care coverage. This whole business should be completely redefined and restructured so it's not about sheer profit-making.

[slackmaster]

30. Not really

It would affect some people I know, but it wouldn't destroy anyone.

[Vidar]

31. Good riddance.

[earth mom]

32. Hell to the NO-I could care less! nt

[saracat]

33. No. They don't care if we die so we should return the favor!

[Hannah Bell]

34. no.

[JI7]

35. NOPE , LET THEM DIE

if the only way they can profit is to let people die than they should not exist and THEY should die

but i think they CAN profit and be ethical , but the profit just wont be as big though still a lot in itself.

but the problem with these assholes is that they ONLY care about the profit. it might be ok if they are dealing in selling luxury type items that people don't need but there are different standards for an industry like this.

[Warpy]

36. I have an incredibly minor position in one health care company

which is a chain of for profit specialty hospitals. I would never have purchased it myself, but one of the funds I hold did.

What seems clear is that there is the will in Congress to do something constructive whether Baucus likes it or not. One thing they are testing is whether or not to make those bastards subject to antitrust legislation, something they were stupidly exempted from in the late 1940s when they were non profit and doing a decent job.

I don't think anyone will be sorry to see those bloodsucking leeches get salt poured on them, not after the bad faith they've shown over the last 20 years, as long as there is a robust public option to replace them.

If my incredibly minor for profit hospital stock goes down the tubes with them, o bla di, it's a small price to pay.

[Blue State Blues]

37. that's not fair to leeches

leeches perform a valuable role in medicine.

And slugs are the ones that dissolve if you pour salt on them.

But the for-profit health insurance industry MUST GO, our lives and our finances as a nation depend on it.

[Warpy]

38. Leeches let go if they're salted

but they're not killed efficiently the way slugs are.

I'm speaking of leeches that are not applied after appendages are reattached.

[Blue State Blues]

58. I stand corrected

I so enjoyed the image of them melting like slugs when salted, that I applied the image even though you had not written it. My bad.

And I didn't know the bit about salt making them let go. Good to know. So ... since beer has a use on slugs, is there a beer application for use on leeches?

[Warpy]

60. yeah, getting piefaced after you detach the leeches

helps a lot with the "ick" factor.

[krispos42]

98. You'll just get hired by the government to do the exact same thing for more money

and job security! :-)

[Hatchling]

39. Where shall I send flowers?

I'm certainly done donating to their favorite charity.

[laughingliberal]

40. Remember the insurance exec who said, "We regret the necessity," when asked about the loss of life..

due to recission? Well my answer would be "We regret the necessity, NOT." The sooner we do away with the criminal enterprises and their legalized hits on humans, the better.

[DailyGrind51]

41. Hell no!

[Vinca]

42. Considering the number of people they've let die,

I'd call it justifiable homicide. All they do is move money around. We - meaning the government - can move it around, too, and make more people healthy in the process.

[Lugnut]

43. Hell, no.

The sooner, the better as far as I'm concerned. The insurance companies are the problem and should have no part in the solution.

[mike_c]

44. good riddance...

...to bad parasites. :hi:

[Mimosa]

45. I will do the happy dance on its grave! n/t

[lovuian]

46. Its dying anyway

no I don't mind

[PufPuf23]

47. Not one whit (and haven't read the comments yet)

Join other modern industrial countries in universal single payer health CARE (not INSURANCE)as a basic right. Like Venezuela even!

The job stimulus of more doctors, more nurses, more other professional health care by increased opportuniities, more health care education, more personal community medicine, and more opportunities for people of heart to be trained as medical professional and caregivers (the Cuban Model lol)?.

Health preventive care favored over reactive problem care (on mis-managed; note: both my parents had vigorous lives up until diagnosed with cancers then were operated on and they to die in discomfort and, pain with scant quality of life;each got a diagnosis and aggressive treatment for cancer, and never had a quality day of existence post the day of surgery and I suspect would both had lived longer without intervention (at age 68 and 86). The oncologists, hospitals, etc made out like unfeeling bandits and the hospice folks were under-paid ANGELS.

The health insurtance companies are a skim off the top for the self-entitled greedy. There would be more economic activity if private insurance for those that deem themselves worthy of entitlement only existed on top on universal health care.

Money and jobs and health and economic vitality and preventive care are being surpressed by entrenched and monied interests,

[eleny]

48. Nope. They screwed the pooch.

[BluinTX]

49. Yes

I'm all for it being killed! :party:

[Bigmack]

50. I prefer... "put down" or "put to sleep"...

sounds nicer.

[supernova]

51. Ins cos need to go the way of the Dodo

If they can't compete with a robust public option, they have no business being in business.

Personally, once a public option comes online, I'm signing up and never, EVER, doing business with a for profit outfit again.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

52. Of course not... why should our lives depend upon a "for profit" industry?

Does everyone deserve an LCD tv? no


Does everyone deserve a Playstation? no




Does everyone deserve healthcare? HELL YES!

[cliffordu]

53. Nope fuck them and the ceo's they rode in on.

[Spike89]

54. Have some compassion!

Oh, wait, I want to help them continue, but it turns out that their foundational evil is a pre-existing condition. Sorry insurers, you've been denied (well, denied my pity at least). Maybe if they hurry to an ER room that won't ship them off to a more affluent hospital?

[Blue_In_AK]

55. I don't have a problem with some forms of insurance,

but I think health insurance is ghoulish.

[TheWebHead]

56. the for profit insurance industry

isn't for a whole lot of profit, they're on the lower end of the pre-tax margin scale of industries, as are hospitals. there's a lot of factors involved with health care costs increasing 2x inflation, profit margins for health insurance are a sliver of it, and I have great doubt a 5% profit margin business could be run at a lower cost by the govt. Not to mention a government takeover of a private industry sends a chill through the private sector, witness what happened when banks were taken over and propped up w/ TARP.

[DireStrike]

64. So just lemme get this straight

The health insurance companies are providing a valuable service that the government could not.


...really?

[Enthusiast]

116. The banks weren't taken over.

And what did happen when they were propped up?

We know for a fact that government can administer a health care plan more efficiently than private insurance.

[Roland99]

57. NO! H.R. 676 even provides funding for putting displaced workers into the new fold or job training.

[Motown_Johnny]

59. I care, I want it killed.... this is just blood money IMO

[DireStrike]

61. I care a lot. I can't wait.

I will throw a party!

[proud patriot]

62. FOR profit health insurance should be outlawed

IMHO

[Quantess]

63. Sounds good to me.

The money saved, by everyone not having to fork all their money to insurance companies, will instead go back into the economy. The jobs will spring up elsewhere, and hopefully won't be as parasitic as the health insurance industry.

[leftstreet]

65. Nope. Off with their balance sheets!

[bluethruandthru]

66. Nope...they don't care if we're "killed". n/t

[Hepburn]

67. Do I care? I would hope to hell it is killed off. n/t

[JVS]

68. I pray for its death

[workinclasszero]

69. Kill it...kill it NOW!

All insurance companies exist to take your money in return for nothing. When it comes time for you to claim a benefit from it they try their damnedest to avoid giving you one penny! In the health insurance racket this can cost you or your children their LIVES!

Health insurance is killer capitalism. Terminate with extreme prejudice!:spank: :nuke: :thumbsup:

[gleaner]

70. No. I don't give a rat's ass ....

if the for profit insurance industry disappears off the face of the earth. Maybe we could start over again with a system which has some regard for something other than money, and maybe just a hint of concern for human life.

[glinda]

71. I care in that I want it "killed". They kill people all the time. Really kill.

[opiate69]

72. Not in the slightest...

[LeftyMom]

73. I care a lot. I think it's a damned good idea.

[toymachines]

74. Not one bit

Cut the fat

[Zoeisright]

75. Hell no. I hope for it.

Those bloodsuckers all deserve to be homeless and shoeless.

[inna]

76. who in their right mind does?

except perhaps members of congress... but they are bribed and sold out.

[Rex]

77. Nope, it was created by Nixon so it has to be a bad idea from the get go.

Fucking vampires getting rich off strangers dying from illness IMO.

[ecstatic]

78. Have any studies predicted what would happen to the US economy

if all the insurance companies died overnight? I don't care if they're killed (I've been screwed over big time) but I am concerned about the US economy staying afloat. Does that make sense?

[JoeyT]

82. Sort of

The general consensus is, though some jobs will be lost by the people that work for those companies, it'll still be a net gain in jobs. It'll be cheaper for businesses to hire employees without paying outrageous sums for insurance, so they'll be able to pay more competitive salaries, or hire more people. Coupled with a lack of having to pay sickening amounts of money to maybe not die, people will have a bit more money left over so the amount of consumer spending should increase along with it.

Edited to add: So it should actually improve the economy. Some people think it will improve it in a pretty drastic manner. The only people predicting it hurting the economy are Republicans and Randroids. The former because they suck and the latter because they think any money the government touches is magically tainted and must be purified by as many cycles through the "Free Market" as possible. Sorry, got distracted halfway through.

[eridani]

95. Yes. Single payer would generate 1.4 million jobs

That would counteract the loss of 500,000 insurance industry jobs.

[unkachuck]

79. hell NO!

...."kill" the blood-thirsty leeching bastards off....let all the parasitic scum in that death-dealing industry go out and look for REAL work....and while we're at it, we should "kill" off their accomplices on wall street too....

....I hear wal-mart's looking for greeters....

[condoleeza]

80. Let these bloodsuckers die n/t

[JoeyT]

81. Yes!

I care lots. I had a whole box full of care. I do seem to have misplaced it, though. So you'll just have to pretend I'm shedding a silent tear for them.

[varelse]

83. Yes, I care very much

it needs to die so that the rest of us can live.

[Prophet 451]

84. Not in the slightest but...

...that's not necessary anyway. Here (the UK), we have the NHS which covers all of us from cradle to grave but we also have several private insurance firms (BUPA is the biggest) for those who want to skip the occasional waiting list, get branded drugs and luxurious hospitals (the NHS tends toward generics and spartan to keep costs down). But because every citizen has the perfectly acceptable NHS to fall back on, the private insurers have to compete by offering a better product at a competative price.

Call me crazy but I always thought that was the essence of capitalism.

[TexasObserver]

85. No

[dysfunctional press]

86. yes- i DO care...in that i HOPE that it IS killed off.

the sooner the better.

[donheld]

87. I'd love to see a nice tombstone for each of the big ones.

[WillyT]

88. Nope...

:kick:

[ClayZ]

89. Turn their buildings into colleges!

Their employees can try unemployment for a while! Then they can go back to school!

[wroberts189]

90. Do I care? I wish they were never born. nt knr

[Triana]

91. NO. n/t

[barbtries]

92. no nt

[eppur_se_muova]

93. Let them go back to insuring homes and cars. There's profit enough there.

So, yeah, I care. Get these parasites out of health care. They're the single biggest problem.

[Solly Mack]

94. No

[krispos42]

96. No. There is no need for them to exist.

Their service is a mature one. They can't make health insurance (the act of paying for medical services) "better". It's basic accounting; they were doing it in ancient Sumer 4,500 years ago with clay tablets and abacuses.

There is no innovation left in the process of paying for health care. On-line billing and EFT are both mature processes. Therefore, they have no right to expect a) high profits, b) high profit margins, or c) high executive compensations.


There is innovation in how to avoid paying, how to avoid high-risk or high-cost customers, how to lobby and manipulate the government, and how to make the bureaucratic process more cumbersome and expensive (the costs of which are passed on with a hefty profit margin). However I don't think thats what we should be aiming for.

[Skidmore]

99. I agree. The absence of a health insurance industry would

give the health care industry a chance to get it pricing out of the stratosphere. AND, even though it is not popular, so would some tort reform coupled with better enforcement of regulations of the medical and pharmaceutical fields so that people don't have as many reasons to file suit.

[timtom]

97. Absolutely not!

Any organization that has "the bottom line" as its bottom line is cooked! Their primary mission is to increase their bottom line!

The insurance industry has shown, oh, so clearly, what rapacious, soulless entities they are.

[City Lights]

100. Nope.

If a genie grants me three wishes, the for-profit insurance industry will go up in a cloud of smoke. :nuke:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

101. No the sooner the better. The only people who be less well off

are our reps who would lose their bribery gravy train. Some people employed by the industry would be out of work, but I think the stimulation to the economy as a whole with affordable healthcare for all would compensate for that.

[whathehell]

102. No...and Hell No.

[tsuki]

103. Do I care if legalize extortion is killed? No. nt

[liberal N proud]

104. I would rejoice if the profit was taken back out of the insurance industry

[Orwellian_Ghost]

105. K&R

[OnyxCollie]

106. Fuck 'em.

They can all rot in hell for all I care.

[Lilyhunter]

107. No, I don't.

Not at all. Kill it now.

I've long held the belief that certain areas should not be reduced to profit-making ventures, and that would include healthcare and basic utilities.

[Joe Bacon]

108. They destroyed my life.

They killed my mother. They made my father lose his home. They bankrupted me. Thanks to the fucking pimps who run the health racketeering, they destroyed my life with the debt they piled on me after Dad died.

I have two words for the motherfuckers who run this racket

DROP DEAD!

The pimps who run the insurance rackets are so sleazy, they make Tony Soprano look like Mary Poppins.

[customerserviceguy]

109. This is the difference between those like me, who support

single-payer, and those who think that they still have something to lose if the present system withers and goes away.

When we get enough people in positions of power, be they voters, elected executive branch officials, and/or representatives, then we can dismantle the existing structure.

[Enthusiast]

110. Well,

no I don't. look at the number of whole industries that have been lost or gutted in this country. These were valuable industries that provided people with good wages. These industries "made things", things working Americans bought.

Health insurance, on the other hand, manufactures nothing and is a source of misery. The health insurance industry serves no good purpose except for the single possible example of supplementary policies.

[dugaresa]

112. Oh they won't go away, they will consolidate and then contract themselves to the goverment to handle

the new non profit system.

Just like Medicare doles out contracts to big insurance companies to handle parts A, B, C and D.

[eridani]

113. We need a "trigger" option

But first we have to line the insurance company CEOs up against a wall.

[catrose]

114. I look forward to the day.

They certainly haven't cared whether I lived or died.

I tend to despise anyone who gets rich from my pain.

[volstork]

115. Nope

I'm an MD and I'm tired of working my ass off to be robbed by them every day

[peace13]

117. NO spells no! n/t

[Bette Noir]

118. You can bet the insurance companies don't care whether we die.

[raccoon]

119. Hell, no. I'd like to see the end of many of these assholes' gravy train.

The assholes who are making millions, I mean. Not the rank and file.

[philly_bob]

121. Yes, I care. For instance, I have legal aid insurance. It's a good buy.

When I need a lawyer I just call the number and someone talks to me. My auto insurance is also okay.

Do I care if the for profit health insurance industry disappears?

Yes, a wealthy relative has a "concierge" health insurance policy, where this one doctor has only a few patients and the doctor really keeps up on each patient for prevention, etc. I think she should have the right to have this.

On the other hand, MY for-profit health insurance just cancelled my policy because I needed an operation. The current system is grossly broken and obscenely expensive.

Single payer, baby, or at least public option, all the way!

But if, instead of running the whole show, for-profit insurance can find marketing niches for itself, I'd like them to survive, even if smaller.

[gorfle]

122. Yes, I care.

The health insurance industry is a multi-billion, if not multi-trillion dollar industry.

It employs tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people all across America. Most of them are rank-and-file employees like you or me.

It is an investment vehicle that millions of Americans have retirement money tied up in.

I want to see for-profit health insurance gone in this country, too. But we need to be realistic in understanding that the reason our government is not going to destroy this industry is because the economic consequences of its destruction would be at least as bad as the destruction of our automobile industry.

You can't just say, "Fuck the insurance industry and everyone who works for them or has money invested in it."

Yes, it sucks that there are so many regular Americans caught up in the business of this greed machine. But they are. Provisions need to be made to help the people affected by the dismantling of this greed machine.

I care.

[blueworld]

123. the great irony is, they were vital to the poor & working class 100 years ago

Insurance companies formed "pools" to share premiums of 5 cents per week or so, in order to provide a small measure of security to the poor & working class. Employers didn't provide insurance & only the rich had the luxury of health care & funerals outside of potter's field.

Particularly if the bread-winner died, those "pools" of insured customers allowed many a child to have adequate food & a half-decent shelter for a few years.

But as with all human greed, the alchemy that turned a lot of lead into a little gold has now magically transformed the whole shebang into a large pile of radioactive waste & it's being poured into our laps.

Now you see why I don't contribute to the poetry threads except for limericks. :rofl:

[Demoiselle]

124. No not really.

I'd hope that the small time employees are let down gently. (Except for the fool clerk who declared that baby too fat for coverage, of course.)

[snake in the grass]

125. I'm not indifferent to it.

I'd like to see these criminals go down. They've sucked the public nearly dry and actively caused many thousands to die. They need to go and those responsible need to be held to account.

[valerief]

126. The sooner the better. nt

[dhpgetsit]

127. No. Not health insurance. I'm for Single Payer.

Other types of insurance have their place, such as life insurance, term insurance, homeowners, etc. But for health, they absolutely must be eliminated.

[fascisthunter]

128. for profit health insurance should be outlawed

like is is almost everywhere else around the globe. Americans deserve way better than this... for an industrialized nation we work much more with less benefits than most europeans. There is no excuse for this... it's because of pure greed that we get less.

[tomm2thumbs]

129. no & Medicare will be able to hire good people at same salaries without funding investors

all those billions are paying for yachts and champagne on Wall Street. We can see the gutting of the American carcass now, once again

[jwirr]

130. I would love to see them go but I also realize that this would add to

the unemployment figures. In the end these people could be absorbed into the new public option or single payer system but it would take time.

[NoSheep]

131. Insurance is a racket that consumers should be protected from.

It's legalized gambling - with your life.

[TankLV]

132. For Health Insurance - DEFINITELY...

Not a nanosecond of second thoughts...

[havocmom]

133. Nope. It is too full of expensive parasites

The worker bees in the industry can migrate into other industries. Getting the expensive fat cat parasites at the top off the back of the economy will help move it to a healthier route, and jobs will result.

Take the vampires off the neck of capitalism and it will work much better.

[hellsbeagle]

135. Hell No

I hope those black-hearted bastards burn in hell.

[cascadiance]

136. NO! BURN THOSE BLOOD-SUCKING LEECHES SUCKING OUT MY LIFE BLOOD FROM MY BODY!

And YES! I am yelling!

[alfredo]

137. When our health insurance denied coverage after getting the surgery, even

though they OK'd the surgery, they lost all right to exist. We were stuck with a $60,000 dollar hospital bill. My wife is now uninsurable because she is permanently disabled due to the botched surgery. They took out her Pituitary gland instead of the tumor. When we complained, they "lost" her medical records. They did continue to bill us until we pointed out that they are billing for surgery that does not exist.

We also pointed out that they had her strapped down for radiation treatment, turned on the machine and went home, leaving her strapped down for 2 1/2 hours. A janitor found her. When they let her up she was hysterical. Instead of helping her, they called security. She ran, trying to escape. Some hospital staff hid her under some laundry and spirited her out of the hospital.

Fuck em all.

[katkat]

149. botched

What gem of a hospital was this?

[alfredo]

198. The hospital isn't that bad, just the neurosurgeon and the tech that went

home while my wife was getting radiation beamed into her brain.

[shawn703]

162. That's horrible

And a perfect example for why tort reform is a bad idea. I hope there was some measure of justice for those responsible, even though that would not even come close to making things right.

[KansDem]

138. I think we're slowly but surely realizing that capitalism does not have the best interests...

...of the people at heart (right: "what heart?")

We've been fed for decades about how capitalism "assures high quality for low prices." Bullshit! Capitalism is all about corralling us into groups to buy what capitalists give us whether its crappy food or crappy products. We've been fed for decades about how capitalism "meets the needs of the people." Bullshit! Capitalism is all about the few owning the many.

Otherwise why does capitalism require a multi-billion dollar advertising and marketing industry? Advertising is to capitalism what propaganda is to totalitarian regimes...

Health, energy, education, and natural resources are national security issues, therefore they should be kept out of the hands of capitalists.

Now, I will concede that capitalism has its place; if you want to sell hamburgers, CDs, or perfume, then capitalism works great...


Love My Country, Fear Its Capitalists

[Locrian]

139. I care - I want them KILLED like the parasites they are - nt

[Blaukraut]

140. I care a lot. It can't die fast enough for my taste n/t

[abelenkpe]

141. Please end for profit health insurance

For that matter end for profit education too.

Caring for our neighbors health and educating our children really should be above the motivations of profit. They are ethical and moral obligations, not something the economy should revolve around.

[liberalmike27]

142. Hell to the no

You could kill all of the insurance industries if you want. It'd make me happy. I've always seen insurance as a racket, the rich man uses to enrich himself, from the poor and middle class.

Any sort of community type solution would work better than what we've got now.

[BonnieJW]

143. I am only concerned for the worker bees at the bottom.

But if we get a good government option, many claims processors will be needed in every state. They'll just have to be retrained to pay claims instead of denying them.

[kenfrequed]

144. nope

If I can trade up for a western European style healthcare system I will dance on the grave of for-profit insurance.

[AllyCat]

145. Not really. If they want to offer some kind of supplemental or something

that might be alright, but basic care should be not-for-profit. Frankly, I think most of the execs should go to jail.

[felinetta]

146. I don't want this fascist institution in business. My dream would be to tell them

"you have one hour to clean out your desks and
leave."

[AngryOldDem]

148. Nope. The sooner it happens, the better. n/t

[prairierose]

150. Health care should no be "for profit", if it takes killing...

the for profit insurance industry to do that then I am fine with that. After all, they have been killing people with their death panels with decisions based on profit.

And free markets are not what we need. We need fair markets; not monopolies and combines.

[gopiscrap]

151. All For Profit

Organizations and businesses should be killed

[Flying Dream Blues]

153. No...in fact I'll bring the marshmallows to roast over the carcass. nt

[woofless]

154. NO.

[WatchWhatISay]

155. For profit health insurance should never have existed in the first place

Or, only as an option for people who want it. Just like our education system. Public available for all, private for those who choose.

[Overseas]

156. They have abused me and millions of my fellow citizens. I'd love to see them go.

In my particular case, it is their accelerating age discrimination which hurts most. That is my devastating preexisting condition-- I am over 50. A decade or more ago, insurance companies charged the same premium for all employees, with the understanding about insurance pools--that those who used less medical care would compensate for those who needed more. But those big campaign donations seem to have paid off while I wasn't looking and all that changed. Businesses have to pay 300% more for my insurance premiums than those of a 30-something. They eliminated the "pooling the risk" concept and age discrimination now rules the roost. And even after ditching the pooling idea, which they probably promised would help control costs by reflecting "real expenses to the industry"-- they continued jacking up premiums for all, year after year. Even if those 300% more expensive premiums to keep the damn oldsters (over 50!!!) on staff or hire them are later deductible, they're a large part of a small business or nonprofit's cash flow to set aside each month.

The cruel privatized health insurance industry got special anti-trust exemption and permission to practice age discrimination, all promoted and justified to those congresspeople accepting their campaign donations, I'm sure, as "important cost-saving measures" and the privateers still kept hiking up our premiums. All they had to do was keep supporting the congressional campaigns of our legislators and provide professional language about "necessary cost saving measures" and they were free to accelerate their end-user abuse to the super-vicious condition it is in today.

The private health insurance industry was so confident in that modus operandi that they proceeded with having PWC PriceWaterhouseCoopers to write them that recent report boldly declaring that even after our indebted legislators (aka Blue Dogs and Gotta-Be-Bipartisans) give them millions of new customers they will continue to hike the cost of premiums. Brazen.

I guess they are confident that as long as they invent new vocabulary to disguise their cruelty and give our legislators cover for colluding with them, they will be fine.

>> So excluding coverage for preexisting conditions was not outlawed by our legislators. I guess it is another "significant cost-saving measure" they got campaign donations to accept. And now it has been expanded to dump patients for any health problem prior to their signing with a particular vendor. But it won't be a problem until the insured try to use their coverage for expensive procedures; until then, the privateers will be glad to accept full payment of premiums.
>> "Recision" -- Ask someone who has had insurance coverage at work for a long time to tell you what that means and many don't know. It is a new term to gentrify Patient Dumping.
>> And I just learned MLR this morning, from an article that kpete posted; see below.

"Medical Loss Ratio" is the fancy term used by health insurance companies for their slice, their take-out, their pound of flesh, their gross - very gross - profit. The "MLR" is the difference between what you pay an insurance company and what that insurer pays out to doctors, hospitals and pharmacists for your medical care.

I've totted it up from the raw stats: The "MLR," insurance companies' margins, is about to top - holy mama! - a quarter trillion dollars a year. That's $2.7 trillion over the next decade.

Until the 1990's, insurers skimmed only about a nickel on the dollar for their "service," Wendell Potter told me. Potter is the CIGNA insurance company PR man who came in from the cold to tell us about what goes down inside the health insurance gold mine. Today, Potter notes (and I've checked his accuracy), porky operators like AIG have kicked up their Loss Ratio by nearly 500 percent.

for this full article kpete posted earlier today: http://www.truthout.org/1015091

[seeviewonder]

157. I want to see the insurance companies beg for mercy

when the public option makes it to the next bill. I have a health insurance license because my previous employer forced me to get it. I plan on burning it tonight and I will post pictures and/or video of it.

[kestrel91316]

159. No. I consider it a crime against humanity to attempt to profit financially

from healthcare that your company or you not only did not contribute to provinding in any direct way, but in fact attempted to prevent delivery of said care.

Profit from healthcare should go DIRECTLY to the doctors, nurses, staff, drug makers, device makers, and fricking hospital housekeeping staff that directly contributed to care. NO MIDDLEMEN SKIMMING A CUT OFF THE TOP WHILE TRYING TO DENY CARE!!!!!!!!!

[Politicub]

160. I would dance on its grave

It's useless and is there to prolong suffering.

[winyanstaz]

161. May they R.I.P.......

[Cleita]

163. Not on health insurance, anyway.

We buy car or property insurance with the idea that we will never have to use it and the insurers gamble that we won't either. However, we all need health care and insurance is not the solution. Otherwise we get the situation we have now.

[arthritisR_US]

164. Not one bit! They are bloody vultures preying on the weak. n/t

[unpossibles]

165. like others, it's more "hope" than "care" nt

[Plucketeer]

166. We don't need them! Why protect them???

Fighting to keep health insurance companies is akin to fighting to keep tobacco companies slovent! :crazy:

[riverbendviewgal]

167. In Canada I have one payer but also supplemental insurance

I am retired. I don't pay any one payer insurance fees but get it. My taxes, Federal and Provincial, are about 20 percent of my income. I think this is fair...this covers all those lovely things, police, military, education, health, etc.
When I retired I chose the middle health follow me plan to cover my dental, eye care, prescriptions, semi private, ambulance, therapy fees and hearing aid. It cost me $130 a month. I maxed out my prescriptions last year, my dental and got a hearing aid and also eye glasses. The one payer covers $500 on the hearing aid, my insurance covered $500 and I had to pay $1000. I had a total of $5,000 of accumulated medical/dental/hearing/eye care bills last year. This includes the cost of the supplementary insurance I got back 3k from my income tax.

I am 61. When I am 65 I will pay $100 a year for a prescription drug plan and pay only $2.00 per prescription, no matter what it is. :)

My son and husband were diagnosed with cancer in 1998, two months apart. My son had a brain tumor, same as Ted Kennedy's. He had the same treatment as the senator. - 3 operations, radiation, chemo, 4 weeks of intensive care after the last operation and a week of Palliative care.
My husband had Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. His treatment was an operation, radiation, chemo, stem cell harvesting and severe month long in hospital chemo. He had nurse at home visits, and 3 months in Palliative care. They both had numerous Ct scans and MRIs.
They died in 1999 and 2001. I have no complaints with their care or waiting times. My son had his seizures on Friday (first time having any) and three days later was getting brain surgery. He was almost 25. He was going to get married, athletic, healthy and in great shape It was a total surprise. My husband was 52 when he was diagnosed. Life has a twist in the road you can't always count on. They fought the good fight with the help of excellent doctors and staff.

I had fybromyalgia while they were being treated. And was treated with drugs and therapy. The cost for us all ...NOTHING. We even had family counseling and individual counseling from the Cancer center for no cost.

I feel that one payer health insurance is like the lottery but you always hope you don't "win" but if you do get a sickness you are covered and can just concentrate on the illness and making a good quality of life to get better or die comfortably after trying all means to get well. No denials of treatment. and no bankruptcy. At the first sign of illness I go see my doctor. He is part of a walk in clinic so I can see him or the other doctors the same day. I wait about an hour or less for this visit. There are no fees for hospital tests.

I love Canada. I was born in the USA and came up to Canada 40 years ago and have no regrets. I consider myself Canadian. I am a citizen and have a Canadian passport only.

[bamacrat]

168. It ought to happen.

I dont want a company A COMPANY running my healthcare. It is their best interest to make a profit, which comes by denying claims dropping coverage, charging ridiculous premiums etc... I want my healthcare run by those whose best interest is to have me healthy and working and therefore paying taxes, The Federal Government. Their profit is taxes, which I cant pay if im too sick to work or die. They need me healthy and taken care of so I can work and contribute. A healthcare company doesnt care. I paid over $5000 to BCBS this past year and recently had to quit my job to relocate with my wife, all profit for them because I never used it. Disgusting.

I might be in favor of health insurance companies if they gave rebate checks to their customers who dont use their healthcare. Like 5% of premiums paid each year be refunded if nothing more than prescriptions and check ups were had. Instead they give all the unused money to their CEOs. Fuck them.

[onehandle]

169. No. Hospitals, doctors, nurses, and even hated drug companies deserve profit.

Health insurance companies are basically the mob. Selling us 'protection.'

Screw 'em.

[hippywife]

170. Nope. And if we follow Kucinich's idea for single-payer

those working for the private insurance industry can be transitioned over to work in the public sector for the single-payer organization. Job losses at the very top only! Imagine the savings in annual advertising budgets alone that could be funneled into care for those who need it.

I like this idea very much.

I would love to see the private insurance companies out of the mix when it comes to people's health.

[Norrin Radd]

171. kr

[guitar man]

172. Not one damn bit

As far as I'm concerned, there is no inherent right for them to make profit off the suffering of others. People are desperate to provide the necessity of healthcare for their families and these sharks have used that desperation to make themselves wealthy beyond imagination. Should the doctors, nurses and hospital staff be paid well? you bet, they provide the actual services in the healthcare industry.

As far as the workers in the health insurance industry, I feel for them and would hope as many as possible would find employment under the new system, but, I can't count the times I've been told "sorry kid, we don't need you anymore" and had to pick up and find something else to do. It might sound cold, but such is life.

[SemperEadem]

173. no.

If life is supposed to be so sacred, then for profit insurance companies are profane.

[newtothegame]

174. No, f people and their jobs. We need to get our way. Political wins r more important. n/t

[NikolaC]

175. Nope

They didn't care about all of the people that they sentenced to death with their "policies", why should we care about them?

[zoff]

176. Getting rid of the middleman will lower costs.

The medical sector will survive, doctors that go the extra mile will thrive. The rank and file will also survive. Temporary unemployment isn't as bad as say, medical bankruptcy, denial of coverage, etc. etc. They will somehow be absorbed into the workforce. Plus, they get to sleep better at night.

[northernlights]

177. I care very much. I'd love to see them killed

hoisted on their own death panel petards.

[Krashkopf]

178. Make sure to put a STAKE THROUGH ITS HEART

[LeftHander]

179. But the gold facets and figured rose Myrtle panels were just installed...

The executive offices were just refurbished to match the offices on the company Yacht in Bermuda.

[Jack Rabbit]

180. No more than I would if protection rackets were put out of business

If health care "reform" means an individual mandate without a public option, then the health insurance industry would have the business model of a protection racket. "Pay us so the government doesn't beat you up for not paying us." Otherwise, they don't do much to earn their money.

[Brewman_Jax]

181. Considering the incredible time and trouble

they put my mother through after they cut my father's coverage to stay in a nursing home to recover from a leg fracture, and my mother and I had to go through to get Medicaid, so some damned insurance exec can afford his 4th mansion on a Caribbean island. :grr: Socialize the whole thing and execute the insurance execs!

[RedCloud]

182. No! They are going to kill us all and bankrupt us too!

[sabrina 1]

183. No, and I think it is very important that they are eliminated

They cost far too much, in both lives and money for the American people to be able to support them any longer. They've had their fun, it's way past time to get rid of them as they serve no purpose, other than to stand in the way with their greedy hands out, of real health-care reform.

[DesertFlower]

184. they've made their money. now it's time

for them to get out of the health care industry.

[truedelphi]

185. Pls stop harassing these executives. Do not litter or paint graffiti on

Their doorsteps. Do not stand in a militant circle outside their home.

Especially leave Bruce Bodaken alone, okay? He deserves peace and quiet in his family dwelling at 18 Turtle Rock CT Tiburon Belvederre Calif.

He is doing everything possible to ensure that his brave brethern do not lose their positions and salaries in the insurance industry.

Do not disturb this poor man!

[insanity]

186. Not at all

If they can provide good care at low costs and do right by their customers, then I'd love for them to stay... but I don't believe conglomerated entities who are concerned with delivering profits to their shareholders care about the best interest of the people they serve.

So fuck em'

[Critters2]

188. That'd be just fine with me! nt

[Deep13]

189. I'll kill it. I'll kill it right now.

Really, I'd love to kill the insurance racket!

Give me a hammer and I'll take care of it right now!

C'mon! Gimme the hammer. Gimme the hammer.

[Skittles]

190. no; I hope they rot in hell too

[Raster]

191. Death to "for profit" insurance companies...

...and their sleazoid employees.

[diane in sf]

192. It should get the death penalty for killing people for profit.

[DirtyDawg]

193. I'm not a fan of Big Insurance...

...particularly the health-care bunch. I don't have any stock in one and none of my kids work for one. I can, however, appreciate that the effect of blowing up such a large 'industry' could have a huge, negative, impact on the economy. I also suspect that that's one of the main reasons Obama hasn't been pushing for the 'single-payer' plan or the extension of Medicare to those under 65, as the exodus away from all those money-grubbing assholes - I think that the term 'giant sucking sound' applies - would be immediate and costly. So we play around with a 'public option' and in a few years ask ourselves, 'what are we thinking, just extend Medicare and be done with it'. And while I'm at it, mentioning the subject of assholes reminds me of perhaps another analogy that may be appropriate here. It's the answer to the question: Why are turds tapered? The answer being, 'So your asshole won't slam shut when you're through'. So you see the 'public option' thing is like the tapered end of a turd. Of course, since that's what sphincters are for, I say to hell with the public option and go directly to single payer...sorry if I offended anyone.

[southern_belle]

194. That would be Mary Landrieu who said that

on his show yesterday. My Senator :(

[DeSwiss]

195. I'd prefer it.

- K&R

[central scrutinizer]

196. they are parasites who are killing their host

treat them like the leeches they are. Put a lit cigarette on their butt and when they back out, crush them underfoot.

[Old Codger]

197. not at all

I will go their funeral though, wanna piss on the grave

[SutaUvaca]

199. Most insurance operations equal organized crime

so far as I'm concerned. Lots of peons could lose their jobs if the insurance industry collapsed, but they'll have to recover like those of us already in that boat.

[midnight]

200. I thought no one would ever ask........ Kill this cancer now.......

[MissMarple]

202. At first there will be major economic and medical repercussions.

This ia a huge and integrated part of our economy. It would take a lot of luck and intelligent, quick footed maneuvering to keep us from a potential economic tsunami.

But that's just my humble opinion.

[Ysabela]

203. FOR-PROFIT HEALTH CARE IS MURDER. n/t

[KansDem]

204. Drive a stake through its heart...if you can find one...

[diane in sf]

205. They deserve the death penalty for murdering for profit.