The United States is out of control

[jAQUAN]

I agree with your logic FL but I don't think it's that cut and dried when it comes to how insurance companies make money. The mindset behind insurance is fairly sound. Multiple people pay into a system so that when a percentage of them need help, there's a collective coffer to pay for their care. As long as less people need help than pay into the system, the provider turns a profit. Sounds dandy... except for the need to appease shareholders. Usually that means yearly profits need to head in a general direction. Up.

Now if I'm head of the company I might think I'm a genius for figuring out that if I can reduce the number of claims I have to pay out, I not only get to stop worrying about profits, I can guarantee them. You'd have to grow up under a rock to assume they aren't going to take steps to make that a reality. Enter market competition. Wouldn't they just approve more claims therefor increasing their status and in turn take your customers? No way the same idea would be appealing to them as well right? If this idea become so pervasive that it's standard provider practice, who's going to call foul loud enough to put a stop to it? Clearly the people are going to cry out for laws preventing such practices. But now the problem, the providers are hauling in inconceivable amounts of money due to the fact that any independent company who wants to retain their staff has to buy these goods. That's enough money to literally buy a law. Again, you've never been outside if you think there's enough altruistic politicians who would turn down gobs of soft money. You can see already by this point that gop claims that a bureaucrat getting in the way if your health care is hypocrisy at best. They've been in the way from the word go. In the rare case you get both an honorable provider and enough loyal politicians who attempt to turn the tide, it's a matter of time before they go under from "competition".

Now you might be able to argue that since it's a similar situation across the board you have a level playing field. There's only one thing missing, and that's options. So if you eliminated risk and the consumer option, how is that a free market system anymore? It's every bit as fk'd as what we're being warned against.

You don't buy an iPhone, leave it at the store and hope it's there every time you want to use it, why the hell would you accept those terms when your health is involved?

You speak of motivation. Can you imagine what kind of projections you'd have to have in front of you to want to try making money another way? It's inconceivable.

Now I'm not saying a global system would be immune to such corruption, but under the right leadership and proper motivation (ie. being paid for results) there's at least a chance.


Now take big pharma. Make a better medicine, make more money. Sweet! But with billions in research, an imperfect science and a ton of law suit risk, how long are you going to be able to afford the high road? Enter deregulation. For a third time, you'd have to be completely disconnected to think any politician or political group who desires re-election would take it upon themselves to open such an irresponsible floodgate. And yet it happened. Now your medication can give you hot-dog fingers and two *ss-holes as long as you sell enough to afford the drop in the bucket a class action law suit would cost should you actually be out lawyered and lose a court case.

The very worst part? A doctor has to step over his/her Hippocratic oath to get anywhere near zero after school loans and malpractice insurance are paid. With providers on one shoulder and pharmaceutical kickbacks on the other, how is there going to be enough motivation to improve care?

And then I read the gop claims to reduce costs here and increase effectiveness there without the slightest hint they actually want to change business as usual.

To reiterate, in this idealistic fantasy where everyone does the right thing, I'd say change is a bad thing. But you'd have to believe an omnipotent power leveled the walls of Jericho to think that's how it is.


Please keep in mind, this is only one entire post making only one entire point. To find fault with a few words or statements for the sake of rebuttal serves only one person.