Aetna CEO Ronald Williams sez "Our profits are very modest. Not what the public thinks".

[Avalux]

He went on to say that insurance costs directly reflect the cost of services. His analogy:

"When you take your temperature and it's 104 degrees, you don't get mad at the thermometer, do you?"

Mr. Williams would have all of us believe that health insurance companies are merely victims of physicians and other health care providers who charge too much. They have no control over their premium prices. They have no control over policy.

I'm not sure what the ideal solution is for health care, but I do know if it's tied to employment it will never be fixed. I also know that insurance companies are the biggest problem we have facing us in this fight, as evidenced by Mr. Williams' statements (NPR interview).

:mad:

"Health care is a privilege, not necessarily a right" - Congressman Zach Wamp (R-Tenn), March 5, 2009

[JerseygirlCT]

1. Williams' total compensation in 2007:

$23,045,834.00.

That speaks volumes, doesn't it?

[spanone]

2. precisely why they have 'modest' profits?

[JerseygirlCT]

3. Plus

Almost $300k as a director of American Express.

Nice gig, huh?

[Avalux]

5. Yeah. He's an ass. I wanted to punch him through the phone. n/t

[marmar]

4. May the insurers and Big Pharma rot.....

Universal single-payer, with boutique insurance companies for those who want supplementals.

[PM Martin]

6. What about the billionare CEO from United Health Co?

Remember these W****s?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/nyregion/28daba.html
:argh:

[Idealism]

7. According to the WHO, 34% of health care costs in the US are administrative fees.

Williams= lying sack of shit

[rooboy]

8. I have a friend who works for an Australian company that does work in the US.

I once asked him what the company policy was if someone broke their arm or got sick. His answer was that staff are medivac'd back to Australia for treatment because the costs of care in the US were ridiculously high.