Health Insurance Rant

[Sam]

Insurance companies use retrospective rating plans to price their products.

That is, claims paid, plus administrative costs, reinsurance, and a small profit.

If the providers charge a high amount ($200 a minute for a surgery suite) then the insurance carriers have to pay more, even with the heavy provider discounts (up to 40% discounts on your charges) and then charge the policyholders for the services rendered.

Providers charge a lot as they need high levels of professional liability insurance which costs a fortune, and also their overhead keeps increasing.

So don't blame the insurance companies.  Blame the tort system that allows providers to be sued; greedy hospitals and providers; and people who really do not want to assume any part of their medical costs.

In addition, Americans are out of shape and are in poor health.  Employers are no longer hiring fat people as they have current or will have future health problems.  But when we get sick through lifestyle choices we want the best coverage to heal us, even though we abuse our bodies.

The deductible and coinsurance mentioned in the first post is a normal coverage found in most health insurance benefit schedules.

Just be glad you had coverage that picked up the majority of the costs and that you received excellent care and can go fishing again.

Just my two cents...nope, make it a dollar.  

[Lund Explorer]

There is one main problem with health care insurance.  While there are many people who either don't have coverage, or who are forced to buy their own, there are way more people who get there coverage "free of charge".  Not really free, but at least the vast majority is picked up as a tax free benefit of employment.  Then of course when you add in the existing medicare and medicaid folks.  

I think the majority of us are sheltered from the problems of the minority.  Imagine if your home or auto insurance was covered by your employer.  Would you care what it costs?

[SirSnookalot]

Cart I agree with you. The people with individual plans are treated as second class citizens pertaining to what they get for what they spend on insurance, it just isn't fair. It may not happen in my lifetime but it will happen, insurance companies will be regulated much stronger.

For every argument from the helathcare industry as to why it's costs are what they are there offsetting arguments that say it shouldn't be. Sorry to say some people are just believing the hoodwinking that is going on.

The bottom line, it costs too much, doesn't give you what it once did and people can't afford it. Business passes the additional expense to us consumers making goods and services more expensive, both here and abroad, in other words we get hit twice.

We need the tort system, suppose you are a young person unable to earn a living from a mistake caused by the health care industry and the cap in your state may only be a paltry 250K....live on that the next 40+ years. Healthcare needs to be accountable for their mistakes.

If I'm not mistaken Sam earns his living from the helathcare industry, If that were the case for me I'd be backing them too.

Excellent points Lund, there is talk of taxing employer paid helathcare as it's income, just like  paying tax on vacation pay. If that happens a lot of people will be changing sides.

Time for my uncle to step in or 10% unemployment will look good.