Why cant there be a non-profit insurance company ..that operates just like the public option

[TheCoxwain]

this can get seed money from the congress ....and everyone including businesses should be able to buy into this insurance.


seems a no brainer to me ...

[John Q. Citizen]

1. We could call it Blue Cross Blue Shield! Problem solved. Glad that's taken care of

Now lets fix energy.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. Because the government has economies of scale that no new insurance company could.

The government via medicare, medicaid, the VA and "the public option" could drive down prices.

[John Q. Citizen]

3. While simultaneously driving up prices by subsidizing private insurance companies.

It's experimental of course.

But why would we want to do something that's time tested and proven to work well when we could instead spend much more money on corporate welfare?

[AngryAmish]

4. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

What could possibly go wrong?

[tocqueville]

5. I have another one

1) you pay taxes that cover the insurance, normally it's a minor sum
2) government gives you full coverage and with the surplus can even cover the ones without income

I know it's unamerican and can't compete with the solution to pay a bigger sum to a private insurance company that doesn't cover you.

I'm sorry for the use of word tax.

[HamdenRice]

6. Good question. There used to be. Then free market ideology killed the system.

Much of the health care system was non-profit as late as the 80s. Most hospitals were non profits, created and run by religious organizations. That's why even today, so many have religious names, even though they are no longer non-profit.

Among the biggest insurers were Blue Cross Blue Shield, most chapters of which were non-profit. The insurance industry itself was regulated by state governments as "utilities."

"Utilities" in those days were for-profit companies, but their profit was set by state government. A state commission basically determined a fixed, modest profit and then worked backwards to determine what the minimum they could charge to earn that profit. Utilities stocks were treated more like bonds by the stock market, because their dividends were fixed. That treatment, btw, is still reflected in the game, Monopoly, but insurance, power companies and telephone companies today are as rapacious as any other corporations.

In the 1980s, free market ideology swept the country and many non-profit insurers converted themselves to for profit companies. Non profit hospitals were purchased by health maintenance organizations and insurance companies and just plain capitalist entrepreneurs.

[kysrsoze]

7. That's exactly how State Farm and Country Companies work

They are "mutual" companies, owned by their policyholders. Profits arereturned to members in the form of rebates. It is indeed possible, with a good chance of success.

[On the Road]

8. I'm Surprised Regulation of Health Insurance Hasn't Come Up

Since universal single-payer doesn't look like it will happen in the near future, private insurers will continue to be with us.

That doesn't mean that 40% operating margins, huge executive bonuses, and arbitrary denials are inevitable. The federal government can regulate prices, coverage, risk pools, etc. It's an obvious solution that needs to be pursued regardless of the fate of the single-payer option.

[Sensible321]

9. And Hospital Corporation of America Bought the Non-Profit ...

... charity hospitals and converted them to 'for profit' corporations. Guess what family controls HCA - why it is Bill Frist's family; Mr. "It's Socialized Medicine" himself - imagine that. They went state to state, bribing the legislatures and changing the laws which formerly prohibited this activity.