Fear and Loathing in Washington DC - Why Insurance Companies and Politicians Want to Crush Health Care Reform

News Type: Opinion — Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:30 AM EDT

politics, health-care, health-care-reform, fear, obama-health-plan

Cartoons by the author.

'Some of them guys in the government kinda forgot why we sent 'em there. Maybe they need a reminder come next election...'

In the short term, fear is a relatively good motivator. Right now, it's the tool being used by HMO's, big insurance companies, Republicans, and even so-called 'blue dog' Democrats, to scare you out of health reform.

However, the real issue with these entities is not health care.

It's all about the Benjamins. Money is the string linking all four of them. Insurance companies and lobbyists with stakes in the health business are shoveling millions of dollars a day into stopping health care reform. They drop fat campaign contributions on many Republicans, and a few blue-dog Democrats in an effort to stop reform.

They feed fear-based material to right-wing radio stations and commentators by the truckload. They run national ads trying to scare viewers. They tell outright lies about Obama's plan and the role of government in health care. They will stop at nothing to crush the idea of reform.

Let's look at the hard truth. Insurance companies don't like the idea of competition from the government. While the rest of the economy suffers, they prosper during a time when 50 million Americans have zero health care. These people have no doctors, they receive no checkups, and their only access to care is a visit to the emergency room if they are seriously injured or dying.

Insurance companies couldn't care less if tens of thousands of American families each year lose their homes or the savings of a lifetime because someone in their family got sick.

They don't care if hospital costs are actually going UP because of the number of people lining up for care in our emergency rooms with no way to pay.

They also don't mind refusing you certain treatments, or even cancelling your insurance outright, if it better serves their bottom line - and if they can get away with it. Happens all the time. They can do this because they practically have a monopoly on the health care business.

This is the reality of insured health care in America. It is not a fear-mongering lie, this is everyday life.

Here's another fact - Although this country has one of the best health care systems in the world, it is one of the most poorly managed and serves fewer people than it should.

People in England, for example, shake their heads at us. They don't understand why Americans put up with it. Their NHS program works fairly well, contrary to things you may have been told. No health care system is perfect, but theirs is pretty good.

Whatever you're paying right now for health care insurance, one thing is certain. You're being ripped off, unless your employer is picking up a majority of the bill. In that case, your employer is being ripped off. And if your employer is being ripped off, then he is going to pass those additional costs on to customers. This scenario, when it happens nationally because of greedy insurance companies, drives down the economy, costs jobs, and is a burden that grows worse each year.

It's also a certainty that whatever you are paying now for health care - it will continue to rise unless something is done that not only solves the problem of no care, but the problem of costs as well. Even if you think you have good coverage now, nothing is guaranteed. Perhaps later, you...like many other Americans...will be forced to drop your coverage, or reduce it, because you just can't afford the ever-increasing premiums.

When the fear-mongers tell you that the government will make life or death choices about you, remember that insurance companies already do this, and it's likely they will be harder on you than any public option.

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3.5

{"commentId":8546058,"authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

Robert Blevins - AB of Seattle

Comments are welcome within the Code of Honor guidelines at Newsvine.

Hatred, racism, and name-calling are NOT allowed...and will be deleted without mercy.

{"commentId":8546058,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

4 votes

#1 - Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:31 AM EDT

{"commentId":8546171,"authorDomain":"Blearc"}

Blearc

Ahh I have missed your columns good to see you AB.

{"commentId":8546171,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"Blearc"}

4 votes

#2 - Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:50 AM EDT

{"commentId":8546219,"authorDomain":"ombra"}

ombra

Why Insurance Companies and Politicians Want to Crush Health Care Reform

The simple answer to that question is $

Long form answer, which is more accurate, $$$$$$$$$$

Theres a LOT of money at stake and health has nothing to do with it.

{"commentId":8546219,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"ombra"}

6 votes

#3 - Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:56 AM EDT

{"commentId":8570160,"authorDomain":"cbcourtois"}

Charlie Courtois

Ombra,

You got it right.

I am 73 and this new plan sends shivers down my spine. If my wife and I do get sick I may just as well take all my life savings and send it to Washington. Save a little for my cremation and check out.

Enjoying a life after a lifetime of saving and working, my life will now be foreshortened if I or my wife have a serious illness and this monstrosity of a bill passes.

This is not what I believe America is supposed to be about.

By simply stopping the fraud, unnecessary law suits (tort reform), and creating incentives for the doctors and health care providers to do their best with better outcomes in treatment, we can overhaul the system without creating "obamacare."

{"commentId":8570160,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"cbcourtois"}

3 votes

#3.1 - Sat Aug 1, 2009 12:34 PM EDT

{"commentId":8576037,"authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

Robert Blevins - AB of Seattle

Charlie C says in part:

'I am 73 and this new plan sends shivers down my spine. If my wife and I do get sick I may just as well take all my life savings and send it to Washington. Save a little for my cremation and check out.

Enjoying a life after a lifetime of saving and working, my life will now be foreshortened if I or my wife have a serious illness and this monstrosity of a bill passes.'

And if your premiums continue to rise? Or what about if your insurance company either drops you as you get older or refuses to pay for certain treatments? Right now, you have no recourse. They (insurers) can pretty much do what they want, and let's face it, you are in a high risk group to them.

You are quoting the problems, but giving the opposite solution to what is needed. Unnecessary torts and 'incentives for doctors' are not the answer, and won't fix the problem. Besides, often what a doctor can do for you is dictated by the insurance companies, not the government.

Without reform, it is much more likely you could end up in the situation you described. Trusting insurance companies alone with health care has always been a mistake. Look at what they are doing now.

{"commentId":8576037,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

2 votes

#3.2 - Sat Aug 1, 2009 7:53 PM EDT

{"commentId":8577336,"authorDomain":"cbcourtois"}

Charlie Courtois

And if your premiums continue to rise?

That is the problem with my current supplemental policy. This new bill won't stop that.

Or what about if your insurance company either drops you as you get older or refuses to pay for certain treatments?

Right now they only pay the short fall if medicare under pays which they usually do. With the new "old folks rules" I will be ineligible for most surgery, FYI at 73. I am not quite ready for the grave yet but "Obama Care" will deny me what I am now eligible for.

Right now, you have no recourse. They (insurers) can pretty much do what they want, and let's face it, you are in a high risk group to them.

I don't think you understand very much about Medicare. Fortunately, I have never been sick. But, with the new proposed bill, what I know of it, most of the way it is being paid for is to ration "health care" for the elderly.

Here is the part you are very wrong about:

"By simply stopping the fraud, unnecessary law suits (tort reform), and creating incentives for the doctors and health care providers to do their best with better outcomes in treatment, we can overhaul the system without creating 'obamacare.' "

Stopping fraud and over use of current system (est 40-50 billion/yr.)
Capping frivolous law suits reduces unnecessary procedures by 30-40% or more and that is another 10-20 billion
Creating legitimate healthcare pools that can operate between State lines will alleviate the people who cannot afford to be insured
So, far we have not spent a dime, but guess what, the trial attorneys will earn less and won't that be a shame

We could actually have a chance of reducing some of the Medicare short-fall; how about that?

{"commentId":8577336,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"cbcourtois"}

1 vote

#3.3 - Sat Aug 1, 2009 9:35 PM EDT

{"commentId":8577563,"authorDomain":"cbcourtois"}

Charlie Courtois

We need reform, but we do not need "Socialized Medicine." We need a system that puts check and balances in place to stop, waste, fraud, corruption and the system needs to be competitive and completely separate from the government.

I don't want 5 bureaucrats deciding what medical procedures my and wife and I can in the 10-20 years of my life, do you? This is the most un-american, un-democratic piece of legislation every written in the country.

Once the government takes it over you can forget about it running efficiently.

The only way a bill should be passed is the following:

Every senator and representative must agree to forfeit their current health care (w/AIG by the way) and only be eligible for the plan they are voting for. No exceptions! Then maybe they will read the &%d$m#@$**^% bill!

If its such a great bill, then they should want to ahve too. I am sick of guys making $175,000 plus benefits a year and not doing their job properly---without neglect!

{"commentId":8577563,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"cbcourtois"}

1 vote

#3.4 - Sat Aug 1, 2009 9:52 PM EDT

{"commentId":8579387,"authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

Robert Blevins - AB of Seattle

Charlie C says in part:

And if your premiums continue to rise? (Quote from the article)

'That is the problem with my current supplemental policy. This new bill won't stop that.'

Oh, but it will, and quickly. Insurance companies, faced with millions of people dropping THEM in favor of a less expensive public option, will have to do like every good business does:

Cut costs, cut rates, get competitive to stay in business. You've probably heard this argument a few times already, and one of the reasons is because it's true.

Ask yourself this: What would motivate insurance companies and HMO's to pour millions a day to stop health reform? Because they think the quality of health care will drop?

No. Because they would have to stop gouging people, or they would quickly go out of business. They have a good thing going, and they don't want what's best for Americans. They want only what is best for their bottom line - or their shareholders.

{"commentId":8579387,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

1 vote

#3.5 - Sun Aug 2, 2009 12:12 AM EDT

{"commentId":8587950,"authorDomain":"cbcourtois"}

Charlie Courtois

Robert,

You are completely ignoring the main premise of the Health Care bill. Cut back on proceedures!!!!!

Guess what the only way to do that is--- as I said, or Obama's thrust, let government solve all our problems. I don't what age you are, but you better pray you don't get very sick under the new regime.

Because you will que-up like they do in Canada, and the UK, and you won't like one bit!

{"commentId":8587950,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"cbcourtois"}

1 vote

#3.6 - Sun Aug 2, 2009 5:48 PM EDT

{"commentId":8590757,"authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

Robert Blevins - AB of Seattle

Charlie C says in part:

'Because you will que-up like they do in Canada, and the UK, and you won't like one bit!'

A myth perpetuated by the same people who do the fear-mongering. Two of the staff of Adventure Books of Seattle are from the UK. (Geoff Nelder and Sara Watson) I also know many other English writers and editors. They dispute the idea of 'queueing up' for care. I have discussed the NHS public care system in England with them, and others, at length. If you ask them if they would want to ditch the NHS, they will tell you not a chance.

And like I said in a previous comment, the English do feel sorry for us for putting up with our present system of health care. They don't lose their homes or their life savings when someone gets sick, unlike what often happens to Americans.

In reality, if one clinic can't take you right away for elective care in the UK, the NHS offers you the option of just going to another clinic or hospital nearby. Emergent care is dealt with swiftly and promptly. About the only thing they don't pay for are ambulance rides, and they actually apologize for not doing so.

The NHS also has scores of free drop-in care centers in what the English call 'high street' areas, or what we would call 'downtown'. Many of these are near train and bus stations.

Don't knock the NHS too hard until you've at least talked to the people who are getting care under it. The NHS has been around for over sixty years now, and they are still in business, and doing a good job of it.

{"commentId":8590757,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

2 votes

#3.7 - Sun Aug 2, 2009 9:28 PM EDT

{"commentId":8546459,"authorDomain":"rethizon"}

Rethizon

You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning.... And that, I think, was the handle -- that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.... So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark -- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.- HST

I sincerely hope we haven't hit the high water mark, that more people will start seeing the fear mongering for what it is, stand up for what they deserve, and say 'enough'.

{"commentId":8546459,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"rethizon"}

2 votes

#4 - Fri Jul 31, 2009 2:41 AM EDT

{"commentId":8576530,"authorDomain":"Wheel"}

Wheel

Good article.

In the first paragraph:' relatively', not 'reletively.'

Sorry, it's like the hiccups.

{"commentId":8576530,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"Wheel"}

1 vote

#5 - Sat Aug 1, 2009 8:33 PM EDT

{"commentId":8579473,"authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

Robert Blevins - AB of Seattle

Wheel says:

'Good article.

In the first paragraph:' relatively', not 'reletively.'

Sorry, it's like the hiccups.'

Fixed.

I read too many books on physics...

{"commentId":8579473,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"adventurebooks"}

1 vote

#5.1 - Sun Aug 2, 2009 12:22 AM EDT

{"commentId":8587666,"authorDomain":"egdarrelljoycehttsupergerbil420news"}

sphere-1246615

Very true. thanks for speeking up for us.(no health ins.

{"commentId":8587666,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"egdarrelljoycehttsupergerbil420news"}

1 vote

#6 - Sun Aug 2, 2009 5:24 PM EDT

{"commentId":8588521,"authorDomain":"lindaluke"}

Linda Luke

A very good article that tells it like it really is. Not only do those employers pass costs on to their customers but it prohibits them from paying their employees more.

The same thing is happening with workmans compensation in as the insurance companies are making it so expensive for business and using that insurance is a no no, it can put you in a risk situation that could put you out of business. I have seem businesses actually pay for the medical treatments instead of turning anything over to workmans compensation.

The only thing wrong with our healthcare system is the insurance companies. They need to be regulated and go the way of CEO caps on salaries. It is so easy for government to go after CEO's that have no lobbyists but those insurance companies are quite like banks, they own the world.

I'm not sure I'll personally like what Obama and this Congress does with Healthcare but it can't be any worse than the system we have right now.

{"commentId":8588521,"threadId":"639417","contentId":"3091207","authorDomain":"lindaluke"}

1 vote

#7 - Sun Aug 2, 2009 6:36 PM EDT

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Debunking The Myths Of Health Insurance Reform \| Media Matters Action Network	Media Matters	Sat Aug 1	6
Insurance Industry Lies, Shuns Kidney Donors; Reform Can't Wait	Firedoglake	Sat Aug 1	0
Health care for America \| Agenda for Shared Prosperity	sharedprosperity.org	Thu Jul 30	0
Steny Hoyer: Health Reform Too Good To Pass Up	CNN	Fri Jul 31	1
t r u t h o u t \| Single-Payer System Cuts Barriers to Care	t r u t h o u t	Fri Jul 31	0

ROBERT BLEVINS - AB OF SEATTLE

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Fear and Loathing in Washington DC - Why Insurance Companies and Politicians Want to Crush Health Care Reform

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