A Complicated Enemy: Obama Seeks to Vilify Health Insurers, Give Them $336 Billion Check

Yet another dart thrown by the leftist regime of Comrade Obama at the pillars of the traditional USA. Don’t think for a second that I and many “conservatives” don’t criticize “big business” for it’s lack of ethics BUT it’s a far cry from the campaign of the Obamanistas to destroy the core of USA’s economy. They WANT you to be dependent on being in the “good graces” of the politicians in power. Orwell’s Animal Farm IS Obama World!

Of course insurance co’s. make out huge by bringing in another 30million people who weren’t previously on the books… what do you think this is all about? That’s why they sit on their hands while Obama browbeats them…

Can anyone say with a straight face that Obama is a rational adult? He seems the personification of a 1960′s flower-child radical – all emotion and arrogance. A true embarassment and danger to our country.

Like the bankers on old that supported bank reform to usher in the 1913 FEDRES.
Sold out again by politicans and special interests!

We are skrewed. If this man gets his way, America will change for the worse. Health Care will degrade and the cost will significantly increase for the average American. The man is blind.

50 Billion here, 1 Trillion there. Obama’s spending is starting to add up to some real money.

doctors study til they are 30 to learn how to save your life…and Obama wants to tax/make them become govt employees/ignore the cost of the’ cover yer arse insurance’. Dont you get it?..Obama wants to pay them LESS than a federal employee janitor…(after taxes) dont you GET it? in canada the average doc makes 80k after expenses..OK YOU spend half your life learning to be a doc… and ask america to pay to same as a plumber. THINK! ppl

I say all this bill really needed to be was one page and on that single page it was to say “you must purchase and carry health insurance at all times or face punishment of a severe fine or worse imprisonment”
Funny how during the 1920′s recession the federal gov’t actually cut its budget in half and the recession ended.
why do we consistently go against common sense thinking and keep growing our spending when we dont have the money to do so?

I don’t buy the insurance companys claims that only 1 cent on the dollar goes to profit.
I’m a fit and healthy 38yr old male. Two years ago my health insurance cost $271 a month. I have never needed to or gone to the doctors office. Yet over the past two years Kaiser has rasied my rate $113 to $384/month. $60 raise last year and another $54 this year.
There is no way to justify a $100 a month increase in just 2 years for a healthy person. I’ve actually canceled my medical insurance because of all of unjustifiable increases like this especially in our current economy.

Anyone who wants government to take over healthcare and continue to subjugate aspects of the capitalistic system are enemies of America. No where in our constitution is a government takeover of any aspect of the free market mentioned and so their actions are unconstitutional. To try is treasonous in my opinion.

Man can this president lie? Or what,and you media types telling me what a nice guy he is. Course I’m a old Christian white guy. And back when I was a kid the good guys didn’t lie to ya. Of course these days the mere fact I brought it up makes me a racist. My how times have changed. Perhaps the mighty O would do well to remember the fact we the people have told him in New Jersey in Virginia and Kennedy-land, keep your hands of health care. And still you persist. We know insurance co. make about a 2% profit we know this. So going to the SEIU club house so you can get thunderous applause for your lies. Does not change what we know. But it tells us a lot about our President.

Obama needs to get his facts right. Why is he attacking an industry that makes only 3.5% percent a year in profits. If he does his research he will fid that health care insurers rank at a measley 88 and hospitals at 77 in top corporate earnings. What he fails to mention are all the hidden taxes alraeady costing health care costs to rise most of them involvinr medicare and medicaid. As we all know, this is a tactic used by libs to try to attack a person or company even if what they say is a lie to get their agenda implemented. We do not need you or your agenda so leave us alone!

“There is no way to justify a $100 a month increase in just 2 years for a healthy person. I’ve actually canceled my medical insurance because of all of unjustifiable increases like this especially in our current economy.”
Posted by: Sean | Mar 8, 2010 7:08:40 PM
Hey Sean — under Obamacare you would be fined, imprisoned, or both!

KEY POINT: the reason President Obama was able to get the insurance industry on board last year was because they saw a simple trade:
a) president would be able to say HE made the industry end restrictions on “pre-existing conditions”;
b) industry would be able to sell to millions more people because the government would force some to buy and would pay for anyone who couldn’t afford it!
Anyone COULD have made that deal, so long as the industry was going to get at lease as much money after the deal as before….
But once it became clear that many potential customers would rather pay a fine than pay for insurance they didn’t want, the profits the President had promised disappeared.
But it sells well to the naive: “I made them change their ways!” …never mind I did it by paying them off.
What we need is to be given the power to buy what we find worthy of our $$$. Once we have that market power, we’ll see the industry fall all over itself to give us the best service at the best price… because we simply will buy insurance from their competitors until we find what we want at a price we think is satisfactory.
We lack that power because of two reasons:
1) most states regulate health insurance within their sates to the point where there is little or no choice between vendors available.
2) most insurance is sold through EMPLOYERS…. so obviously the customer they satisfy is the EMPLOYER and not the sick person!
Obviously, we need help from our government to stop this insanity of taxing us if we get the same money in our pay and buy our own insurance, but not taxing us when we allow our employer to buy the insurance and offer it as a “benefit” with which they can strong arm us to be “loyal” out of fear of losing our health insurance!!!
How, this many years after the end of slavery and “company town” intimidation, do we allow this final form of employer intimidation to be enshrined in tax law????

This is a straw man argument. The Statists always have to vilify some entity in order to sell their snake oil to the public; in this case it’s the insurance companies. I sell health insurance, so I’m well aware of the pitfalls for policy holders. But, at the end of the day, these companies are businesses just like any other. They want MORE customers, not less. If they raise premiums and cancel policies or disqualify applicants based on pre-existing conditions, that doesn’t grow their business. It’s all about risk and cost. If the Dems were sincere about reform, that would be the focus of their reform. Sadly, they are only interested in a socialist takeover by fiat.

All politicians, media people and anyone who thinks health care is better in Cuba or Russia should, as a matter of principle, GO THERE when sick.
Please, PLEASE put your lives and your children’s lives in the hands of the very people you trust more than our “greedy” caregivers and their minions. …you can afford it… go prove to us all that health care is better over there! Personal demonstrations are always more convincing than talk…. In fact, why not set up a booth at the Houston airport and pay those poor dumb foreigners who stream in to go to M. D. Anderson for their cancer treatment… save them by paying them to go elsewhere. Let them demonstrate to us all that American medicine is inferior to Cuban or Russian or Chinese medicine.

Oblunder claims that “my proposal would bring down the cost of health care for millions—families, businesses and the federal government.” He says it is “fully paid for” and “brings down our deficit by up to $1 trillion over the next two decades.” Never before has a vast new entitlement been sold on the basis of fiscal responsibility, and one reason ObamaCare is so unpopular is that Americans understand the contradiction between untold new government subsidies and claims of spending restraint. They know a Big Con when they hear one. The sock puppet in chief’s fiscal assertions are possible only because of the fraudulent accounting and budget gimmicks that Democrats spent months calibrating.

I WOULD like to see an audit of where the money goes…. I was looking at a bill from my hospital. Very obviously, most of the cost was covered by the insurance company, but the cost seemed all out of proportion to what was actually done to me.
Why blame the Insurance company when it is clear that the rising costs are NOT significantly due to increases in their profits, but rather due to increased fees charged for the services provided?
What we need is some way to apply pressure on the providers to reduce cost. In the past, we basically trusted the system (doctors and hospitals and insurance companies) to police themselves. …that is VERY unrealistic today.
The government forcing prices down does not really fix the problem… the government is more profligate than ANY insurance company! Just look at the way they’ve failed to audit their own spending on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Post Office, Amtrak, Freddie and Fanny !!!! …consider how they pay their employees thousands of dollars (of our money) more than private employers, for the same work!
Obviously, the government is not the best “enforcer” we could hire.
Know who is best? You and I! We need some way to get control of the costs ourselves and select providers who offer the best performance for the price.

We don’t need a Community Organizer. We need a Government Organizer.

Im all for big brother healthcare… the future of this country is a richer poor class, a poorer middle class, and smaller elite, and more powerful gov. The people that can see the future and swim with the current have a better chance of success. To fight against the lazy masses only drags you down.

“To help pay for the new insurance requirements the government would give to people money to buy insurance – $336 billion over the next ten years. That money, ultimately, would have to go to… drum roll… insurance companies.”
—————————————
Another drum roll please, as $235 Billion of these same dollars will be paid out in health care claims.
Why can’t you folks differentiate between health care vs. health insurance, as the later is simply a means of financing the costs of the former. You want to bring down the costs of the later, you need to start by bring down the costs of the former, as one follows the other.
Proposed legislation attempts to bring down the cost of health insurance with no real meaningful attempt to bring down the costs of health care. This why the public is demanding that the WH hit the “reset” button, the public “get’s it;” the politicians don’t, as they are already way too heavily invested in time, energy and money.

Hey Ric … thanks for never getting sick and helping to pay for my $70K motorcycle accident and my $50K gall bladder last year. Lets see .. I pay in about $350/month and my employer about the same, so someone had to come up with the other $116K. ‘Preciate it!

This is outrageous. If I don’t like the rates my insurance company charges I go elsewhere, just like my car insurance. The govt has NO right to stick their nose in this, I am a life long dem and I am at wits end with this nonsense. NO MORE.

LOL- what nerve criticizing health insurers– whose rates are approved by government, and simply reflect the cost of services… which largely are set by government.
It’s like shooting me in the foot, then complaining about my limp. Fire these
people at the next possible election.

It’s a sad day when the President of the United States has to vilify the insurance industry in order to try to centralize even more power in the hands of the federal government by getting congress to approve this disastrous legislation. If you think health care is costly now, wait until it’s free.

Maybe if health care COSTS had been the focus of this administration, instead of a healthcare takeover, the insurance companies would have had to become more competitive, or (gasp) even eliminated as the middleman.

Todd – Insurance companies have a profit margin of 2.2%. For every dollar they earn, they keep $.02.
Google it.

No mandate. If the plan is so great, everyone will beg to be included. If the plan is another scheme to rake in more taxpayer moneys, people will avoid it like the plague and pandemic it promises to become, and NO vaccine will prevent this one, and NO medication will cure it.

Obama is lying/ No way! The scandal. How dare he!
Okay all of you folks who voted for this egomaniacal, socialist whack job. Told you so, although that does not quite cover it or make up for the money I will be paying out to cover your mistake. He spends like a drunk sailor on leave, blames everyone but himself, calls himself bipartisin until he sees his precious bill about to go down in flames and uses class warfare better than Stalin and Marx combined. Hopefully the congress feels more threatened by losing thier jobs than by this Chicago thug.

The insurance companies are making crazy profits and are even bragging about it. In a conference call today with Goldman Sachs they were touting how they would make gobs of cash by dropping customers (mainly the old, sick ones) while ratcheting up premiums on everyone else. They promised Goldman they’d be more profitable than ever. Under the proposed health “reform” bill, there are no caps on premium increases. This bill is a terrible one. We desperately need real reform, not this crap that’s a gift to the insurance companies and one that Obama will do anything to pass. If Obama doesn’t get this rammed through, he’ll look like a loser and he can’t have that.

Think about this – the president so vivifies the “big” insurance companies – because of rising rates and BIG profits … well the truth is something entirely different – According to 2009 figures, the Health Insurance Industry Ranks #86 – with 3.3% profit margin.

Obama, you idiot. Insurance companies are raising premiums because of your being caught high-center on the economy. The high unemployment especially in California, New York, Michigan and other 10% percent plus unemployment states just happen to be the places that insurance companies are raising rates. Obama you are creating the very situation you are complaining and creating such a fuss about. Please stop trying to fix anything, you are not capable.

Impeach OBAMA

73% of Americans DO NOT want this health care reform bill to be passed. 52% of Americans DO NOT want reconciliation to be used to pass health care reform. Mr. Obama has stated publicly on several occasions that reconciliation SHOULD NOT be used to pass health care reform. The debate is OVER-the clear majority of citizens are OPPOSED to Obamacare. Once again, our president has shown himself to be a FRAUD-tell the public what you think they want to hear and then do the opposite, hoping no one will remember.

Once again, more solid proof that democrats care more about big corporations than the little guy. All of their policies hurt small business and benefit the corporations. Somebody cue the “corporate anthem” from Rollerball…..

Obama’s drivel is standard progressive class warfare with zero facts to back up his claims. His teleprompter script could get mixed up with Chavez’s speech notes and you’d never know the difference.

@Ric… perhaps you should move to Arizona, where your monthly premium (like mine) would be about $130 per month.
If you want to get to the heart at why your premiums are going, look to your State, which mandates what coverage is minimal. In some States, that mandate that things like liposuction, and breast and penile implants be covered, premiums are going through the roof.
And I hate to beat the politically incorrect dead horse here, but illegal aliens are a big problem as well. They stroll into a hospital and get “free” health care. And since nothing is free, that cost is passed onto hospital patrons that either have insurance and/or those that pay cash. So, naturally, the cost ultimately gets passed to you.
Also, write your congressmen and demand that they repeal the law, passed by the Federal Government in 1946 by the Truman administration (McCaran-Ferguson Anti-Trust Act of 1946). This law basically give health insurance companies anti-trust exemption status in the States in which they operate. In other words, they’re allowed to run a monopoly. If this law were repealed, it would allow (force) the 1300 (1300!!!!) insurance companies to compete with each other, driving the costs down big time (just like your auto insurance).

So many of you here are calling President Obama stupid. Listen up for your own fiscal well-being: he’s not stupid.
Really, he’s not. He’s brokered deals with the pharmacy industry, the AMA, the insurance industry, the unions, his own party members in Congress to get what he wants.
Just think about that. He is getting want he wants. And he’s happy because he thinks he’s going down in history as the president who saved Americans from health insurance whether we want it or not.

Vilify healthcare? I just read that Health insurers profit margin is between 3-4%. Hardly an evil villain. Recent study found the highest rate of denied health coverages were from MEDICARE–our government run agency. Hmm–make demand increase, lower supply equal less health care and more cost. Lets look at free market cures. Eliminate insurance except for catastrophic, direct cost for users–EVERYONE has some sort of pay out relative to income.
I never understand government math. Lets see, 35 million uninsured (if you believe the fake numbers). How about each family-person receive one million health credit for their life time to buy insurance or place in HSA? That would cost hmmm,… 35 million. Where does this trillion dollars go they are purporting?
Dr. H

i only have 1 word: IMPEACHMENT

This entire health care push by democrats has been a stain on this country. I’ve never seen such ugliness and blatant vote buying in my life. They ought to be embarrassed and ashamed of their actions.

been in insusrance for over 40 years. Stop selling health because the profit of the company was to small and was afraid companies would go bankrupt. If health insurance is so profitable why does only one of all the 15 companies that I sold for, which are still in life and annuities all out of the health insurance market? Because it is not profitable. One company I sold for only made 1 million profit one year. That is when I got out. That is to small of margin of profit for a multistate insurance company to make. One claim on triplets was a quarter of a million that year. That company did not insure the wife. So no premium was paid on her yet when she had her husbands babies my company had to pay the quarter of million. She was insured with another company and her company did not have to pay one cent. Why? State law. Why does Ky. have less people insured now. All five of my companies left due to having to take all applicants. So now sickies are insured and premium so high everyone else dropped theirs so now less insured due to goverment inference. Why such high premiums. Indiana law forced companies to not allow riders on policies so less insured now. Goverment involved created our current high premiums and health costs. Indiana has laws that cut the commission to agents but never lowered the premiums to clients. Agents like me got out so there are less insured people than before. I had to sell three policies to make what I was making on one. 33,000 instead of 99,000. Guess who got less taxes from agents. Federal and State tax loss. Anything the govermeent touches turns sour, does not make sense and cost the clients grief and money.

Obama wants to take lifetime limits off, no pre-existing conditions, cover everything, etc. and then he thinks premiums will go down. Math challenged Lobbyist-In-Chief.

This is clearly nothing more than an Obama hit piece. Clearly, the Note is more interested in manufacturing links from Drudge than reporting the news. Shame on you, ABC!

Obama seems to be good at borrowing money to give to large companies. Banks, car companies, now insurance companies. All Bush did was give tax breaks to oil companies. Obama is giving cash.

Obama keeps demonizing the insurance industry and bringing up anecdotes about how insurance companies withhold treatment for Americans. The federal government denies a 1000 times more people of medical procedures, including denying treatments in Medicare and Social Security benefits. Obama is far worse and dangerous than any insurance executive!

Do you really understand how insurance companies work???? Your insurance rate is not based on you personally but on the shared risk of all those who are insured. Yes you get discounts for your health and habits, but you are also group into a “risk group” for your final rate. Insurance company does not have any money except the money of those they insure. When the expend money paying for their policy holders, on insurance bill, this is not a personal saving account for you, it is a group plan to pay those bills, thus, if the insurance company expends more funds then, they have allocated to the risk group, they have to raise their rate in order to pay those bills. Yes, insurance companies make a profit, they also invest in real estate and other things, which they put back into the economy, they also, have investors which share those profits, and spend money into the economy. This administration continues to demonize companies which employ people and generate taxes and spend money into the economy is detrimental to economic growth and long term employment in the United States.

I have to ask, because it keeps on coming up over and over, about how the big, bad insurance companies are making money hand over fist, and raising their rates; aren’t most of them publicly traded companies? God forbid another company raise its rates to ensure profit for shareholders.

One thing that I have noticed in the past 4 months: the defenders of Obamacare are few and far between on comment pages like these. They used to post endless ad hominem attacks on those who questioned Obama. Not anymore. They have gotten the message and their silence speaks loudly. This country is BANKRUPT and more and more entitlements is not making it any better for any of us. If the health insurance industry is broken lets fix it. If the healthcare industry is broken lets fix it. Obamacare does neither. If this thing is rammed down our throats I demand a White House ceremony when the first American Citizen is hauled off to jail for not buying health insurance. I demand a White House ceremony when the first check from OUR MONEY is handed out for aborting an unborn child. If these people are so D**** proud of this bill then they need to quit hiding like a bunch of cowards and stand behind it so we can see who they are.

Sean said: “I don’t buy the insurance companys claims that only 1 cent on the dollar goes to profit.”
That’s not what the article said… it said: “For every dollar spent on health care in America, less than one penny goes towards health plan profits. The focus needs to be on the other 99 cents,”
That’s the TOTAL of health care costs, (drugs, doctor visits, hospital stays, etc.) Insurance companies make a WHOPPING 3.3% profit margin, which is far, far below most other industries, ranking #86 on the list

A lot of common folk who voted for him are probably really regretting they did. Majority of Americans are freedom loving and conservative.
I was in the Group Health Insurance business for 17 years. Cost containment was always an issue.
This is a very difficult problem that cannot be solved by the proposed Senate bill which does not even address containing costs.
If you insure all, there might be some small savings but you still have to lay out government money for the 30M plus uninsured and over a period of time say 10 years, who knows how much this will cost.
The`solution has to be restructuring the delivery of medical care services and the claims administration with the govt. as the excess reinsurer.

this sort of drivel only works with college kids who haven’t lived yet, and other Liberals who think the same way as he does.
Those of us in the real world, know this is all a bunch of BS.

Medicare, food stamps, education, social security, fema, ssi, etc…
What government program works as intended, saves money, etc… all are failures, all are collosal juggernauts unable to function efficiently, or effectively. What will make socialized medicine different. When it has failed in every country it has been tried in, how will Obama’s plan be different. All the programs i mentioned are going broke, or they are broke. year after year schools need more money, we keep throwing more and more at them, but there is little improvement. They actually only get worse. People the world over come here to get the best possible care they can get. Our medical system is second to none! Obama’s plan will crush it!

Looking at the numbers, the % of profit Ins. company’s make is around 3 to 5%. Hell Government motors far exceeds that by at least 50 to 75%.
Time to remove the socialist party from society.

Sean said:
“There is no way to justify a $100 a month increase in just 2 years for a healthy person. I’ve actually canceled my medical insurance because of all of unjustifiable increases like this especially in our current economy.”
Sean, by dropping coverage, and eliminating several thousand dollars a year from the insurance pool you were just in, you have directly contributed to the increases you say you can’t understand. Healthy people are fleeing heathcare plans as money gets tight and they realize they are over-paying for services rendered to themself.
The democrats want to eliminate your ability to “opt-out” and cover your own expenses (that’s selfish!), instead you will not only cover your own expenses, but you will help pay for the treatments those sicker than you receive AND you will be helping to pay for healthcare coverage for those that the government feels can’t afford to pay as much as you can (you know, folks whose votes the ruling party wants to secure in the next election).

Obama and his administration caught in (another) case of duplicity? Say it ain’t so? These thugs are “taking the last copter out of Saigon” and have bet the store on health care. Perhaps Obama should sit down, have a beer, a smoke, and read about another megalomaniac who took a similar course; Captain Ahab.

As has been pointed out over and over, insurance companies have lower profit margins than a lot of other business sectors (and so does Big Oil, but that’s another story). The key problem with this legislation therefore is NOT that it adds a bunch of “new customers”, but that insurance companies will no longer have any control over who they can accept and reject, meaning the only way they can remain profitable is to shift the extra burden to you. Result? Massively higher insurance costs, a collapse of private insurance, and a complete takeover by the federal government. There are enough examples of failing socialist health care systems for any rational person to easily see this is a very bad idea.
What we SHOULD be doing rather than sacking the insurance companies, is increasing the supply of health care and lowering its cost. Lawsuit reform and subsidizing medical schools would be a good start – you could solve most of the problem with 30 billion dollars rather than several trillion.

So, according to the Administration, healthcare companies should tell investors “We are going to STOP making profits, and lose YOUR money!”

Obama is trying to do to insurance companies what Hitler did to the Jews, make them scapegoats. This vile evil anti-American Marxist President will destroy this country if he is not removed from office and neutered by Congress soon.

Government trying to elbow its way to the top of everything it doesn’t know how to run or manage. Power is craved like a drug and though they are never satisfied still their answer is more, more, more.

Too bad that Wolf’s report will never make it into mainline ABC news. ABC is having a hard time admitting that it was fooled by the image of Obama that it promoted during the election. Now that everyone has to deal with the reality of an under qualified individual imposing new law on a majority of Americans who really don’t want it, ABC appears to be happy to clear its guilt by letting its internal bloggers post the truth. This post should be required reading at the top of ABC’s home page and is an ideal example of how our current elected leader has one position for the public but another for his own political effort. In the meantime, the object of his “wrath” increases its sells, Americans lose more liberty and the liberal base is lulled into believing that health care will be better and available for all. Political bases for both parties comprise the current “ship of fools.” Fortunately, us independents see through this charade and will ensure that some new faces are in Washington at mid-term and thereafter until someone actually has the talent and nerve to govern correctly.

I do not believe one word of this when it comes to the HealthCare Industry only making 1 cent profit out of dollar. They must really think Americans are all stupid.

I’ve never seen so many people completely uninformed as the current crop of right wing nutjobs.
This bill makes people purchase private insurance (private, for profit insurance, there is no government option), and even provides $336 billion in government subsidies, and you’re still calling Obama a “socialist”.

Well this is a real laugh. The reason why insurance rates keep increasing is because of taxes and government mandates set by the state. Up here in michigan, blue cross and blue sheild of michigan lost 257 million dollars last year because they are a company that does not deny prexisting conditions. The insurance companies make around 2.5 percent of a profit margin. This guy lies so bad I am starting to believe he can not keep track of his lies. What I would like to know is where/when is the assualt on soft drink companies? They make a much larger profit some up into 30 percent tile and soda causes many health conditions, obesity, diabetes, etc. Mrs Obama is attacking Obesity in children as her agenda, so that will be the next business to get destroyed once they control your health, they will control everything and with the usage of reconciliation this time it sets the precedent for the future, which means our republic will be destroyed and we will turn into a direct democracy a democracy where we have no individual rights. Thanks to all the lame brains that voted for this loser.

GOVERNMENT? HMPH.
THE GOVERNMENT SAID
THE GOVERNMENT SAID OUR “SSI” WOULD SUPPORT US IN THE GOLDEN YEARS. – HMPH
BRIDGE AND ROAD TAX IS WITHHELD FROM EVERY CHECK! EVERY GALLON OF GAS HAS ROAD AND BRIDGE TAX AND THE GOVERNMENT SAYS THERE HAS TO BE A TOLL ROAD! WHAT THE HELL AM I PAYING FOR TAX ON GAS AND WITHHOLDINGS FROM MY CHECK! THE ENAMY “IS NOT” CAPITALISM IT IS THE PEOPLE WE HAVE IN OFFICE AND I SAY ITS TIME TO BRING BACK “TAR AND FEATHERS” AND IN SOME CASES THE GUILLATINE!!!!

If you listen to any political party or person you will be miss informed. Here Obama is trying to get a win to point to and he does not care who has to pay. Both parties speak of health insurance for everyone, well why are they not stopping their own free health insurance that pays 100% health, eyes, dentist and RX and joining this GREAT INSURANCE AS THEY PUT IT?

Our premium increases the last few years primarily go to cover those who can’t pay already and also to help insurers/doctors deal with the Medicare/Medicaid fraud and inefficiencies. Typical government bluepring at work – intrude into a market system and bring about waste and fraud and then scream that the problems they created need to be fixed by more government intervention.
Listen, insurance companies exist to make a profit. And their profits are in-line with businesses as a whole. A true insurance company brings about benefits to all parties – the insureres make money and the insured get peace of mind and dramatically reduced health care costs. Are they perfect? Obviously not. But I for one am glad they are there.
Maybe we should have a system where certain doctors don’t deal with insurance companies or Medicare/Medicaid at all and the only patients they can see are those that don’t have or want insurance. Their rates would presumably be lower since they don’t have to deal with the inefficiencies of insurance forms and government waste. My opinion is even with those lower rates, people would learn very quickly the benefits of the “evil” insurance companies.

“Update data are now available for Q4 of 2009, and the Health Care Plan industry (includes Humana, Aetna, WellPoint, Magellan, Unitedhealth Group, etc.), and the health insurance industry slipped to #88 with a profit margin of 3.4%. Actually, that industry profit margin was boosted by WellPoint’s 18% profit margin for Q4 2009, which was due largely to a one-time sale of its Pharmacy Benefit Management division. Without that sale, WellPoint’s profit margin would have been only 3.9%, the industry average profit margin would have been closer to 3%, and the ranking for the industry would have fallen a few places down to #92.
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the industry’s trade association representing 1,300 members, reported last October that annual health insurance premiums averaged $2,985 for individual coverage and $6,328 for family plans in 2009. Using the industry average profit margin of 3.4% means that insurance companies make about $100 per policy in profits for individual coverage, and a little more than $200 in profits for each family policy.
So even if we could strip away 100% of the health insurance industry’s profits, it would only save patients between $100 and 200 per year in health insurance costs.”

@Gary
Your own comment criticzing others for calling Obama “socialist” proved the point for them. Well done! As you mention, he is providing $336 billion in government subsidies. Where do you think that money comes from Gary? Do you really think it comes from the government? It comes from those taxpayers with the ability to pay and goes to those who can’t. Sure, smells like Socialism to me.
Even if there is no public option in any bill that might come to pass, it doesn’t take too much reading between the lines to conclude it will be on the table in the future. Obama himself is on record saying he supports a single payer system and many in Congress have said the same. It is just a matter of time and the current Senate bill is the first large step down that path.
Also, nice job with the ad hominem nutjob crack. That certainly helps promote honest and legitimate debate!

One more thing about health care. Our President tells us not to smoke as it is bad yet how much does he smoke a day? When he gets lung cancer guess who takes care of him. We have an overweight HHS Director yet Mrs Obama talks about obesity and how unhealthy it is. When the HHS gets diabetes and a stroke because of her weight who pays for her? Lets get our own house in order Mr. President

This just shows the extent this president and this democrat congress will go to pass the progressive health care plan. They want it both ways and talk out of both sides of their mouth…They know the insurance companies will benefit no matter how the final bill is structured… One thing this current bill will do is put smaller companies out of business and benefit greater the larger companies, maybe that’s why the large companies aren’t pushing back from the president’s rhetoric…they know Obama care will benefit them because of the mandate, and put much of their competition out of business..

B.O.’s comments about the insurance industry’s lust for profits are BALD FACED LIES! But then again, what else is new. He’s been lying to the American People since he started his campaign. This is not about reform, this is about POWER. The left wants to control every aspect of your life, and this is where they start. For the next 3 years get used to the fact that you are now living in a left wing dictatorship (at least that’s what B.O. and his henchmen are trying to build)….

Regarding ric’s comment on his insurance rates increasing when he hasn’t used his insurance:
Ric, the insurance companies need people who are healthy to cover those that are sick. One person on chemotherapy costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars. If that one person pays what you pay, then it will takes tens of thousands of healthy people to pay for it. That is one person, now multiply that by the number of people requiring medical attention and you can see why you pay more. If pre-existing conditions are added, then expect your insurance premiums to increase since the insurance companies will have to pay out more and more. Eventually they will go out of business with the Obama healthcare plan since he will limit what they can charge but not limit what they have to pay. This will eventually lead to the government taking over the entire industry.

The democrats always have to vilify some industry. Health Ins Companies are their target now, prior to them it was big oil, or big tobacco, or wal mart, or banks, ect….it is always some boogeyman. Who will it be next ?

will obama apologize to the health insurers as he has with everything else??

Carl – interesting Question, but it is about control, the Libs (aka Socialists) need this to happen to take away our Liberty. If it was just about money into governemt, BEFORE the Libs took over Congress ion 2006 the Government with lower taxes and lowest unemployment rate also had the biggest intake of money into the Government. But they started in 2006 to eat away at the economy and blamed Pres. Bush.
Lets stop the Word games and call them what they really are Socialists!!
What do they call Obamas unconstitutional Appointees (did not go thru Senate) CZARS what other Country used the CZAR reference – Soviet Union under Stalin!!

@Tanya, I am so glad most people do not think like you do!

Namor – First the two wars were started not by us!! and it is one war not two!!
Who quadruppled our Deficit Pres. Obama, not before him!!
Bailouts, did he not vote for them in the Senate (oh thats right did he even vote) and by the way the Bank bailout was the only one started under Pres. Bush and Obama even stated the government made a profit from it!!
Who took over GM – Obama
Who wants to make it illegal to Fish – Obama
Who wants to tall you what you can eat – Obama
Who wants to take away your liberty – Obama
All Hail Obama!!!

So wait a minute… Are people more concerned with government mandated health insurance coverage or the fact that the government is offering to help people pay for it?
Did I miss the debate on government mandated auto insurance? Don’t people get fined and / or go to jail if they don’t have auto insurance in almost every state in the union? (if not all) Aren’t the people enforcing those rules the product of a social program themselves?
Then we have the thing about the government attempting to make sure that everyone gets coverage… Since it’s reasonable to assume that people that don’t want coverage believe they are healthy – if we say that just 51% of those people are right, well then that would produce lower insurance costs because more healthy people are entering the system than not.
I guess I’m really missing the point of the over-extended resistance and sometimes I have to believe that people are just fed “half-facts,” choose to take them as proven facts, then make no attempt to think about anything other than what has been told to them.
I mean it’s not like anyone here is going beyond what the key arguments against this plan are and most of that is regurgitation of what they’ve heard from Glenn Beck and everyone else at Fox News.

@Jason, when reading your comment there is clearly a negative tone towards our military. If you meant to communicate something else, you should be more careful on how you make your statements! Government should have a limited role: enforce laws, keep the nation safe, manage the infrastructure. As for “which government program worked?” I worked for government, except for national security, government is always innefficient! Look at Social Security and Medicare!!! We should keep government out of as many aspects of life as possible.

carlito…well said!!!

the only enemy is Obama

Recently in countries where there is socialized medicine like the President wants to shove down our throats there have been disturbing stories of breakdowns in care, not due to medical incompetence, due to bureaucratic bungling of the worst kind. All the Democrats tell us, pass this legislation and we will have a healthcare utopia where armies of smiling caring white-jacketed good looking healthcare professionals will gently tend to our every bump, bruise, and fever immediately at no cost to you. The reality will be what happens not infrequently in Canada and the UK where people die because their healthcare delivery system is screwed up. When in the UK recently I watched story after story about scandals where hospitals were killing or maiming their patients. One patient died of thirst even, not because of practitioner incompetence but because of the ‘rules’. The Democrats will tell you that these stories are all lies. They are the ones lying.

We are exposing the traitors trying to write laws and policies that are against freedom, liberty and US constitution – and they should be in jail.
The progressives and Statists may suggest we need to be locked up for exercising 1st amendment rights, which are both enumerated and god given. It is always interesting and telling since the original liberal, Voltaire, was prone to saying things like: “Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.”
Progressive Statism is not able to be implemented in compliance with root law/US constitution. Sorry about that. Why dont you move your progressive Statist butts to Venezuela or whatever failed state du jour that is crumbling under left-wing Statist policy. India and China wont take idiots like you, and they are our main economic/geopolitical rivals right now. Idiots like progressives, Statists and authoritarians weaken America by betraying our constitution and make the denigration and disintegration of this superpower all the more trivial by the other autocratic authoritarian governments who want our power.
Progressive politicians have woken the silent majority, and criminal acts of treason will be evaluated if we can restore freedom, liberty and the US Constitution.

@FanDaElis – “@Tanya, I am so glad most people do not think like you do!”
She brings up pretty valid points. You argue what seems to be a Libertarian stance, ie. “Government should have a limited role: enforce laws, keep the nation safe, manage the infrastructure.” Let’s just say more people think like her than think like you. Remember if more people thought like you we’d actually see Libertarians holding major public office every once in a while.
If the government did only those three things – your kids couldn’t go to school, because you wouldn’t be able to afford the private education, and then you’d complain about it. No one would come over for free to put out the fire at your house, and you’d complain about it. You wouldn’t be able to mail a letter or a package for anything less than FedEx or UPS charges, and you’d complain about it, etc, etc, etc…

My fellow conservatives, I urge you to demand a patriotic public option from Congress.
All Americans in this great country of ours deserve healthcare. Our brave men and women have died on foreign shores to preserve this freedom.

Thank you for the censorship Mr. or Mrs. Moderator. Now on to my point, again:
@Mad Jayhawk
You are not thinking clearly or competently if you honestly believe that when I say “the government pays for it” I don’t understand that it means it’s the taxpayers responsibility.
See, the truly ignorant believe that when someone makes a statement like that the statement maker doesn’t understand the fundamental relationship. What’s funny is you think that what comes out of your paycheck is what you owe in taxes, and what you get back in April is some sort of “free money.”

@Sieg Heil, Nobama and @tess
All of this talk of the President “trying to destroy our country” is just getting silly. Calm down. The man is a politician. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no grand plan to destroy the country from the inside out. He is trying to get votes for himself and his party. If he’s wrong, he gets voted out, which is of course what you want to happen. Enough with all of the sensationalism.
You have no clue if his plan will harm us or help us. You are just regurgitating what your favorite pundits say. You just don’t know, it’s that simple. What we do know is that the current system has been in place for generations and it’s broken.

Doesn’t it seem strange that Obama and the Dems vilify Insurance Companies, when it is insurance companies who are the biggest beneficiaries of the Obama and Dems health plan? Yes, and didn’t it seem strange that these same companies raised their premiums about 30%, just when it looked like Obama had no ammo to pass the plan? Why did they give Obamacare life, if they were not in bed with Obama and the Dems? It all makes sense now, they are being vilified so the plan can pass and they can make a ton of money…! Talk about conspiracies!

Why doesn’t government go after the pharmaceutical companies instead of the insurance companies? The prescription prices in the USA are so much higher than elsewhere. Example: Lipitor. Cost at Costco per pill is $4.11 US. In Candad, Australia and New Zealand the cost is $1.24 per pill. No wonder health insurance is so expensive. Prescription drugs are outrageous.

Mandatory Drug Tests for Members of Congress. Make the test results public.
I want to know how many prescription drug addicts there are in the House and Senate.
And I want them sent to Drug Treatment facilities or removed from office.
Drug abuse is the only reason I can think of for the irrational behavior our Congress is exhibiting.
Mandatory Drug Tests for Congress with the results published in a public forum.

I heard Pelosi was quoted as saying the bill needs to pass, so we can learn about whats in it. Clearly a Bankers Bill, that they dont want the public to fully understand.

Barack Obama: Change We Can Deceive In –A critique from the Left By Lori Price 19 Aug 2009
http://www.legitgov.org/price_obama_change_deceive_in_190809.html

You people are funny, selfish and mal-informed….to bad you didn’t express this level of disdain for the party that did nothing but ruin the country…..I guess you all were trying to show white solidarity by voting repug…..read george bush and affirmative action for angry white guys…and you will see how you have been duped the last eight years…

My advice buy an rifle learn how to shoot it accurately and move from cover to Another position, and be ready for the revolution! It’s coming

My advice buy an rifle learn how to shoot it accurately and move from cover to Another position, and be ready for the revolution! It’s coming

I got such a kick out of the report yesterday that Obama said he asked health insurance executives why they were raising premiums and they could not give him a straight answer. It’s really very simple. The answer is: “Because we can.” But of course, they couldn’t admit that to the President.

@wowowowow
You do realize you can read the bill any time you’d like to, right? The “excuse” of it being 2,016 pages is overblown. It has 3 inch right and left margins, and 1 inch top and bottom margins, double spaced. It would be about 250 pages if it were a regular hard cover book.
@David
Believe me when I say people are MUCH more scared of you and your agenda than the President’s. You’re either not serious or very dangerous and I’m glad you’ve exposed your IP address to the world.

Health insurance companies averaged a 2.2% profit on revenues in 2008, placing them 35th among industries in the USA. Does this mean all 34 more profitable industries are also making “obscene profits” too?
Let’s face it: Obama and his wing of the Democratic Party are Marxists. They may not like the label, but they walk the walk, talk the talk, and quack like the duck.

You are saying the money is going to the insurance companies? Yeah, to cover the cost of covering the sick. If people would stop abusing the healthcare system and seeking medical treatment when it isn’t needed or getting expensive prescriptions rather than taking the alternate options, insurance companies could lower their rates.
The problem is insurance companies cannot charge members based on their usage, thus everyone has to share an equal cost based on age, zip code and family staus.
Insurance companies are in favor of reform, but the government is not listening to them to understand why things are the way they are. It needs to be a combined effort without being forced down peoples throats.

The content of this inaccurate, biased, shallow, misleading article has been bugging me.
HOW, I wondered could ABC write something like this? Drivel-check: if Obama is in cohoots with insurers and giving them a big windfall…why are they launching a multi-million dollar TV ad campaign to kill the reform? Huh, duh?
I read it again. 3 tip-offs as to HOW ABC could write such defamatory drivel:
1. REPUBLICANS MEANWHILE POINTED OUT THAT those very same insurance companies would get huge checks from the government if health reform is enacted.
2. “But the payment of the tax credits would be made”,POINT OUT REPUBLICAN RESEARCHERS, “directly to the insurance companies.
3. “Much more needs to be done in the current legislation to address the skyrocketing cost of medical care”, said Robert Zirkelbach, A SPOKESMAN FROM AMERICA’S HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS, in a statement today.
This was placed by Republican propagandists to help kill health reform. Note where Mr Wolf got his info…REPUBLICANS and there’s one comment from HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDER
(wanting stronger reforms???LOL) BUT Mr. Wolf didn’t fact check & ask a single Democrat involved with the bill for a comment.
Mr. Wolf, you owe the President an apology. You also show the old Senate bill – have you reviewed the President’s bill, or just swallowed everything the “Republican researchers pointed” out to you so you’d write up how they want the reform bill & the President demonized?

Illegal Mexicans are the cause of this health care problem! Kick them out of our country and go after the employers that hire them and we’ll solve the health care problem and the unemployment problem at the same time.

Afer reading this I see why W was president TWICE….he took advantage of the brain deficit here……..

general insurance
future///
Amzing