The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #122219 Message #2691799
Posted By: Don Firth
01-Aug-09 - 04:23 PM
Thread Name: BS: Nationalized Healthcare, good? bad?
Subject: RE: BS: Nationalized Healthcare, good? bad?
Vast amounts of money being poured by the insurance companies into propaganda campaigns against national health (like the infamous "Harry and Louise" commercials at the beginning of the Clinton administration—which have been resurrected), raising the specter of "socialism" (a word not all that many people understand, but assume it's the worst of evils, failing to recognize that police and fire protection are "socialistic," paid for by taxes, as are the street and highway systems, and most public transportation) – and again, huge amounts of money spent to lobby in Washington (i.e., bribe Congresspersons).
Where do the insurance companies get all this money? Premiums paid by the insured, money that's supposed to go for paying for health care.
3% of the cost of Medicare goes to administrative costs, the rest to benefits. Over 20% of insurance company money (from premiums) goes to administrative costs. Then, there are other expenses, like advertising, propaganda, lobbying, and – executive salaries and stockholders.
Main goal of the insurance companies: pay for health care? No. Maximize profits. And one of the ways they do that is to deny benefits whenever they can cobble up an excuse to do so (and there are some real horror stories there!).
Don Firth