The Real Cost of Private Health Insurance

[SHRED]

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I realize this issue has slid out of the headlines but reminders are needed from time to time since we still do not have an inclusive and comprehensive public option.

The price of private health insurance
Created Monday, May 17, 2010
By Samuel Metz
The Oregonian, May 17, 2010

How much would you pay to keep your private health insurance instead of a single-payer system? A thousand dollars? Ten thousand dollars?

How about $350 billion?

Americans still persist in financing health care with unregulated private insurance. Consequently, our public health is the worst among civilized nations while our costs are the highest, bar none, in the world.

Driving this high cost is overhead – plain old ponderous paperwork generated by our private insurance system – to the tune of $350 billion a year. Make no mistake: This money does not pay for health care. It pays for administrators, accountants, billing clerks and benefits managers to transfer our money to health care providers.

Not all of this goes to private insurance companies, just $126 billion. And not all of that goes to profit and lobbying either. So where does the rest go?

It goes toward coercing insurance companies to pay up.

CONTINUED:
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2010/may/the-price-of-private-health-insurance

[Captain Hilts]

1. It's insane. And insane that a public option was shrugged off so easily. nt

[Echo In Light]

12. Given who owns/manages the country, not exactly 'insane.' Fucking evil? Yes

[Scuba]

2. Pivate health insurance eats up 30% of our healthcare dollars without...

...adding any value to the process.

[LWolf]

3. As a long-time advocate of single-payer, I'd like to know just when

the "savings" from the new health insurance "reform" is supposed to kick in. I'm a teacher. I haven't seen a doctor for 2 years, not because I didn't need to, but because I can't afford the deductibles after paying the premiums. Last week, our Governor announced even MORE budget deficits for next year (that recovery is NOT happening in my state,) and it looks like, between actual pay cuts and days cut from the school year, I'll lose about $3,000 of income in the next school year.

In addition, our insurance premiums are projected to be going up somewhere between 15 - 26%.

15-26% more than the year before health insurance "reform."

[zipplewrath]

5. Kicked the can down the road

In 10 years we'll see democrats campaigning AGAINST HCR much the way the campaigned against DADT or NAFTA. They just kicked the can down the road a bit, and made it more difficult to get single payer in the future. The reality is that, much like Medicare part D, single payer will probably come from GOP president and/or congress. Because the costs are still rising and ultimately private industry will want something done to get them out of the loop.

[jtrockville]

6. Some of us pointed out that there were no cost controls.

The MLR will be fudged by using non-GAAP. Terms we've never heard of yet will be introduced into the discussion, and will make the MLR requirements laughable. Keep in mind, the term "pre-existing condition" doesn't have meaning anywhere but the USA. Look for more of this.

[LWolf]

17. Some of us pointed out a lot of flaws, but they were disregarded.

:(

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. Big problem being that most Americans won't feel any positive effects until

2014 if then. It will be an albatross around the Democrats neck until some benefits start showing up in the lives of average Americans. The Community Health Clinics are good, but they need to be built, staffed and start running. So kids can stay on their parents insurance until 26. Big Whoop. They'll still turn 27.

Costs don't appear to be going down, instead all we hear is of double-digit increases.

I maintain that we will be back to the drawing board in a few short years. Reform is doomed to failure because there was never any mechanism to drive down costs - that was the whole role of the public option. Without it, there really wasn't any so-called "reform".

The for profit insurance industry was essentially awarded a "cost plus" contract on the American people. We might see individual cost reduction due to the subsidies, but the actual overall costs won't go down, it will just be split between the gubmint and the citizen. It will still be the most expensive in the world, it will still be the most inefficient, and it will still bankrupt families.

[Scuba]

8. Excellent points!!! A lesson in trying to cooperate with the Republicans...

our noble efforts at bipartisanship isn't getting us what we need !!!! Time for Obama to say "enough is enough".

[depakid]

7. ....but change that might actually solve the problems would be "too disruptive"

and a robust public option was "too divisive" to fight for.

[bvar22]

14. Yes. Must NOT make Thr Republicans uncomfortable.

It was much easier to simply appease the Republicans and let Joe Lieberman write a Republican Health Care Bill.

The anger that STILL burns in my belly was watching the year long Kabuki Theater as Obama and the Democratic Party Leadership threw out everything that was 'Democratic" about the bill, piece by piece, moving always toward the Corporatist RIGHT...
and gained absolutely nothing from the Republicans.

[Scuba]

16. Nailed it.

[tomp]

9. obama = fail. no question.

the arrogance of the dismissal of single payer as a viable option was staggering. that arrogance and the failure to prosecute bush/cheney, inc. = obama's true colors.

[slipslidingaway]

10. knr nt

[bvar22]

11. Thank GAWD it passed!!!!

The Thank Gawders are the reason we were unable to demand REAL reform in a strong, unified voice.

PT Barnum was right.

[sandbar]

13. If we insist on protecting our private health insurance industry with an extra $350 billion each yea

yes we do but my guess is that this will not happen!!


"If we insist on protecting our private health insurance industry with an extra $350 billion each year, we deserve a fair return on our investment."

[area51]

15. Yep.

Welcome to DU, sandbar.

Each day, 273 people die due to lack of health care in the U.S.

We need single-payer health care, not a welfare bailout for the serial-killer insurance agencies.