I didn't know that the Blue Crosses and Blue Shields were independent and under an umbrella organization. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) is in Chicago and is "a national federation of 39 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies." This group covers 99 million or almost 1 in 3, and has the "largest privately underwritten health insurance contract - the 4.7 million-member Federal Employee Program." They receive "premium income" of over $18 billion from that contract.

It appears that the health insurance industry is bound and determined to eliminate any and all objections Americans may have in entrusting them with an expanded role in our healthcare non-system.

The industry has a long way to go. If Congress does enable the industry again, it would be akin to appointing A I G and Countrywide executives to the Federal Reserve Board.

Americans' distrust of the insurance industry includes, but is not limited to:
providing incentives to staff to deny claims
egregious marketing practices
outrageous participation in fraud schemes
frequent failures to be vigilant and competent fiscal intermediaries in the Medicare program
private, undisclosed deals for kickbacks and rebates with healthcare service and product providers
failures to disclose comprehensible claims information to policy-holders
delayed payments to healthcare providers
dumping Medicare patients
failing to authorize necessary care on a timely basis
failures to authorize necessary care resulting in suffering and death
canceling the policies of sick people
withholding payments for legitimate claims
profiting on the misery of people
adapting to the marketplace and political environment by chronically creating false expectations and optimism in the form of new insurance products, which upon further examination, have more cavities and loopholes in them (co-pays, exclusions, deductibles, exceptions, etc.) than any healthcare purchaser or policy-maker may comprehend ... until the effects are manifested in the form of unanticipated out-of-pocket expenses by healthcare consumers
a systemic propensity to co-opt and mislead major policy-holders

So, if the industry can address the above issues ... and explain to us how they
plan to eliminate profits for shareholders and their beloved, lavish executive
compensation plans, they might be on the same playing field as a single-payer universal healthcare system. However, if the United States Congress chooses to accept the above deficiencies in the insurance-based healthcare non-system model ... and pay 30-35% more in cost for the sole purpose of enabling the health insurance industry to endure ... then let the Congressional leadership tell it to the nation without parsing or pulling punches. ACCOUNTABILITY is not feasible in a chaotic finance non-system with more than a thousand players.

Americans are seeking affordable healthcare. Universal, affordable healthcare coverage is feasible, but only without a competitive health insurance industry, which siphons massive resources from direct patient care.

There is simply no way in hell or on earth that 1300 private insurance companies and 39 Blues plans can compete with a single-payer finance, private sector healthcare delivery system for ensuring seamless access to care, cost-effectiveness, quality assurance, and patient safety,

Bill Walz
What is there to say? Protecting profits as the baseline for any healthcare reform is a criminal violation of the Hypocrtatic oath of medicine. The single payer plan of privately provided healthcare paid for publicly is the only answer to this mess that the intrusion of corporations and the profit motive into healthcare has created.

Healthcare is a human right and a social responsibility. It is not to be held hostage to the insurance companies' profit agenda. We've had enough of this. Obama, this is the change we need, not "reform" that tinkers on the edges with "cost containment".

It is time America joins the rest of the civilized world in a universal health system that covers 100% of the people for 100% of the costs. It will cost the people far less in taxes than this bull---- system is costing us in premiums, deductables, out-of-pocket, and uncovered expenses - and no one is left out.