Why Do We Need a Health Insurance Industry? A Parasite on the Health Care System

[Better Believe It]

March 26, 2009

A Parasite on the Health Care System
Why Do We Need a Health Insurance Industry?
By DAVE LINDORFF

As the country contemplates a major reform and restructuring of the way we run our national health care system (if it can even be called that), it needs to be pointed out that the mammoth health insurance industry is nothing but a parasite on that system.

Health insurance companies add zero value to the delivery of health care. Indeed, they are a significant cost factor that sucks up, according to some estimates such as one by the organization Physicians for a National Health Program, as much as 31 percent of every dollar spent on medical services (a percentage that has been rising steadily year after year).

Medicare is the model. Here we already have a government plan that covers every single elderly and disabled person.

If we were to simply extend Medicare to cover everyone in America, we would essentially have the Canadian model of health care (which, it should be pointed out, costs half what we pay in America for health care when private insurance and government programs are added together). As with current Medicare, the government would pay for treatment, with private doctors and hospitals providing the care, and with the government negotiating the permissible charges. That, in a nutshell, is what “single-payer” means—the government is the single payer for all health care. It doesn’t mean, as the right-wing critics claim in their scaremongering propaganda, that people would be forced to use certain doctors and certain hospitals. Far from it. That’s what private HMOs do.

Leave the insurance industry to handle our car insurance and our life insurance. It has no more place in the delivery of health care than do tapeworms in the digestive process of our bowels.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff03262009.html

[avaistheone1]

1. We need the health insurance industry because

they have bought and paid for our politicians, both republicans and democrats right to the very highest levels of our goverment.

[Better Believe It]

3. We need the health insurance industry because ....

hundreds of people who are hard at work denying our medical insurance claims would lose their jobs and would have to look for productive employment.

[glowing]

9. I would assume many of these processor type people would move over and work

directly for the govt processing the medicare/ medicaid claims so that the hospitals, docs, nurses, etc would be paid. As well as using some of them to monitor and recommend ways to decrease costs. It would also be very nice to have discounts given to work places who paid workers to take an hour out of their "work day" to go to a gym and work out. Healthy lifestyle promotion is the ultimate in reducing health costs in the long run.. also, teaching children how to grow and cook nutritous meals that use less meat and more greens.

[Thrill]

2. Um maybe because they employ thousands of Americans?

[Better Believe It]

4. They'd have to find useful and productive employment. Can't have that!

[Thrill]

5. Yeah because there is pleny of that right now

[Better Believe It]

15. The government can create useful work with an effective job creating stimulus program

We urgently need one.

And don't let Republican Senators tear the guts out of it like they did with the last alleged stimulus plan.

[avaistheone1]

6. Precisely.

[avaistheone1]

7. What a bunch of rubbish.

We need a single-payer universal health care plan. It the most cost efficient system. Besides a single-payer plan would creat 2.6 million new jobs.

[Cleita]

10. Those people would be reemployed by the health care industry and government.

The increase in people using health care would create these jobs. The only guys losing their jobs would be the executives with their millions of dollars salaries and benefits like private jets and yachts. Read this at PNHP especially the question about what will happen to the people who work for insurance. http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php

[Romulox]

12. So do crack dealers. Try again. nt

[PVnRT]

13. Right, those people couldn't get jobs under a government system

:eyes:

[brentspeak]

14. Um, because a single-payer health care system would employ a lot more than that?

And, um, because Americans are becoming broke left and right because of the health insurance-run health care industry?

[Cleita]

8. From Dave's lips to Obama's ears.

However, insurers' money have put many of our politicians into Congress and Obama into the White House. The excuse that I read in Tom Daschle's book was, although single payer works in other countries, it wouldn't work here because many Americans like their insurance. ???? Apparently, Obama is of the same opinion. This opinion only makes sense to me if the insurance companies are large campaign contributors and apparently they are because they are getting a seat at the health care table while single payer advocates are given token seats but for the most part are ignored. So if Americans want single payer they are going to have to overwhelm Congress and the White house with phone calls, emails, snail mail and petitions to get their attention. When the will of the people is felt by our Democratic leaders then they will have to listen. However, I don't have much hope because the majority of Americans seem to be apathetic about this issue even here at DU.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. they can be morphed into non profit organizations!

LOL!

[JayMusgrove]

16. There is no logical reason for any insurace company to insure

the health of Americans.

I agreee, wasteful parasites!

[fadedrose]

17. Health insurance for pets is good, if you can afford it ;) nt