Metchosin, why am I not surprised by that? We have a similar problem here in Hawaii where one insurer (the Hawaii Blue Cross/Blue Shield affiliate) has about 90% of the business in the state. And we can't even vote them out of office! It's a funny business. Imagine you had, say, an auto repair shop. You fix a customer's car, and hand him a bill for $200. He says to you, "Well, I think I'll pay you $150." And you have to say, "Thank you very much." That's pretty much the situation we're in.

And it gets even better than that. I received a contract last week from a company that's trying to take on a small segment of the health insurance business in the state. It included a paragraph that said, in more or less these words: "Fees are paid to providers [I hate that word!] from XYZ trust fund, and will be paid if funds are available. There is no guarantee that payments will be made." I wonder what they'd say if their customers tried to do the same thing with their premium payments?

I'm sure this will surprise or upset some people who are pissed off at "all you rich doctors"...but you're welcome to take a look at the statements I get from the insurance company. Please understand--I'm not in the poorhouse, and I love what I do. But the CEO and upper management of the insurance companies make a lot more than I do...and they keep raising my patients' premiums higher and higher, leaving more and more people without any insurance at all. Oh, well, back to work!

Aloha,
Mark