The insurance industry successfully fought off a Senate threat to
revoke its antitrust exemption as part of health care reform, but the
issue lives to fight one more battle in the conference committee
negotiations that will take place between the two chambers.
The issue surfaced in mid-October, shortly after the industry lobby,
America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), pushed hard against the
Democratic health care reform effort, claiming it would significantly
raise premiums.
Benjamin French was born with his right arm missing below the elbow. In his 12 years, he has been fitted with seven prostheses. His most recent replacement will cost nearly $30,000 and his doctor says he will soon grow out of it.
But, according to his insurance company, the boy is ineligible for further coverage of prosthetic devices because he has already spent his lifetime maximum benefit.
The nation's largest health insurance carrier is urging its employees to lobby the Senate against reform proposals that would hurt the firm's bottom line, according to copies of e-mails released Thursday by a liberal advocacy group.
UnitedHealth Group, which is based in Minnesota, e-mailed its 75,000 employees Tuesday, asking them to write their senators and local newspapers in opposition to a public insurance option, alleging that "government-run health care" will force "millions of Americans" to drop their current coverage.
For nearly two decades, Wendell Potter led a very comfortable life as a public relations health insurance executive.
However, while flying on a corporate jet and being served lunch on
gold-rimmed china with gold-plated cutlery, Potter had an epiphany of
sorts.
He realised that the reason why millions of Americans were without
health insurance or under-insured was because: "Our Wall Street-driven
healthcare system has created one of the most inequitable healthcare
systems on the planet."
In the past, the insurance industry’s power has been a major barrier to health-care reform. Most notably, the industry paid for the infamous “Harry and Louise” ads that helped kill the Clinton plan. But times have changed.
Whew. Saddle up, America. And say it three times, really fast: Baucus-Braly-Blue Cross Bailout, Baucus-Braly-Blue Cross Bailout, Baucus-Braly-Blue Cross Bailout.
By
demanding that the Baucus health-care bill toughen the coercive
penalties to force young Americans to sign up for private insurance,
industry lobbyists have inadvertently made the most dramatic argument
to date for including a strong public option in any health reform law.
Any voice that rises up to expose the occupation of our government needs to be applauded and encouraged. The discussion however is not Republican or Democrat – the discussion is: Who is supporting the occupation of the United States government – who regulates and inspects – who legislates – who guides the flow of the US treasury? Who and what are these occupiers loyal to? The occupation is the core issue – everything emanates from that.
Halloween is still a month away, but ghouls, ghosts and other grotesque creatures are already roaming America's streets, possibly preparing to knock at your door. What makes them so scream-out-loud horrifying is that they are the newly issued spawn of —
shriek!—
Wall Street.
The very same greed-fueled bankers who brought us the disaster of 2008's financial crash have created another exotic financial horror to replace their securitized subprime-mortgage packages that exploded all over us.
Are health insurance companies generally being fair and honest when they reject claims from policy holders?
That would seem to be an important question in deciding how best to fix the U.S. health system. But it hasn’t been a focus of the raging health-care debate -- possibly because the answer is not publicly available.
“This is one of the dark corners of the black box that is private health insurance,” said Karen Pollitz, a professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
