Insurers figuring out how to make HCR profitable

[Neecy]

Are we surprised?

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The bill imposes hefty new taxes and coverage rules that will pinch insurers by forcing them to cover more sick people without gaining enough healthy, lower-cost customers, industry insiders say. The industry is also worried the bill doesn't do enough to control health care costs.

It's a matter of figuring out how to make those new customers profitable, analysts say.

"There's opportunity," Miller Tabak analyst Les Funtleyder said. "Where the rubber meets the road is can you access that opportunity? At least some of them will figure out how to do it."

...An ideal bill for insurers, he said, would pair better subsidies for the uninsured with higher penalties that motivate people to buy coverage and get more healthy people into the risk pools.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/25/financial/f080413S68.DTL&tsp=1

Interesting article that is a bit of a tip of the hand of where the insurance companies stand right now. They're worried that those with pre-existing conditions - the very people they've shut out of the system for years - will hurt their profits. Look for them to push for an increased penalty in the weeks ahead as well.

[AllentownJake]

1. They have till 2014 to figure it out

Why do you think the Senate gave them so much time.

[Edweird]

2. Of course. They are for-profit companies. They aren't in this to help people.

It boggles my mind that anybody to the left of Reagan thinks this is a good idea.

[Oregone]

6. Nor are they there to compete with the anti-trust exemption

Mandating individuals purchase from an industry that can cooperative fix prices for the benefit of their own shareholders is a scary idea indeed

[Hello_Kitty]

3. I'm guessing the first "improvement" of HCR will be higher penalties

And some DUers will cheer it on because the uninsured are welfare queens gaming the system.

[Donnachaidh]

4. so they want MORE taxpayer's money, and they want the government to set HIGHER fines for people who

don't buy insurance --

"...An ideal bill for insurers, he said, would pair better subsidies for the uninsured with higher penalties that motivate people to buy coverage and get more healthy people into the risk pools."

Welcome to Fascist America folks! The insurance companies are hard at work writing that FIX y'all expect from Obama Incorporated!

Bend over and grit your teeth -- it'll only hurt bad for the first few times... :rofl: :rofl:

[Vinnie From Indy]

5. Not only will they get healthy increases in the mandates in the future,

they will still get to play the game of effectively denying coverage by making getting treatment an onerous, difficult, time consuming endeavour for customers.

This is not rocket science and the techniques for evading the letter of the law by large corporations has been refined over the decades into a fine art. One need only look at our complex tax code for a comparison. It is complex solely to benefit the wealthy.

An additional, terrifying example of what Americans have in store for them in regard to health care is the conduct of Wall Street over the last decade. The fact is that the titans of Wall Street have had no problem stealing oceans of money and staying within the letter of the law. A very, very tiny amount of people on Wall Street will ever see a courtroom for their actions during the finacial meltdown. Health insurers will simply find each and every weakness in the legislation and exploit those weaknesses to achieve the central, primary, fundamental goal of their enterprise - maximum profit! And, it will all be legal!

[Hydra]

7. Wall St only occasionally has the spectre of the law over them

Insider trading is almost flaunted at us. They call it being "Market Smart" or "Having Foresight"- just don't be Martha Stuart, that'll get you jailed.

[endless october]

8. "trying to figure out how to make it profitable?"

umm, i'm pretty sure the reason they bought this bill was profit. i think they've had it figured out for some time.