|
A universal system - Medicare for everyone - NOW! :-)
"Between 2000 and 2005, the number of Americans with private health insurance coverage fell by one percent. But over the same period, employment at health insurance companies rose a remarkable 32 percent. What are all those extra employees doing? Now we know at least part of the answer: they're working harder than ever at identifying people who really need medical care, and ensuring that they don't get it."
Krugman even notes what we have been saying for years at DU - NAMELY, that every other wealthy nation manages to provide almost all its citizens with guaranteed health insurance, while spending less on health care than we do. And there's no mystery why: we're paying the price for pointless, destructive reliance on private insurers. Medicare, which is a universal health insurance program for older Americans, spends less than 2 cents of every dollar on administrative costs, leaving 98 cents to pay for medical care. By contrast, private insurance companies spend only around 80 cents of each dollar in premiums on medical care; much of the remaining 20 cents is spent denying insurance to those who need it.
Insurance Horror Stories
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times
Friday 22 September 2006
"When Steve and Leslie Shaeffer's daughter, Selah, was diagnosed at age 4 with a potentially fatal tumor in her jaw, they figured their health insurance would cover the bulk of her treatment costs." But "shortly after Selah's medical bills hit $20,000, Blue Cross stopped covering them and eventually canceled her coverage retroactively."
So begins a recent report in The Los Angeles Times titled "Sick but Insured? Think Again," which offers a series of similar horror stories, and suggests that these stories represent a growing trend: more and more health insurers are finding ways to yank your insurance when you get sick.
This trend helps explain something that has been puzzling me: why is the health insurance industry growing rapidly, even as it covers fewer Americans?
Between 2000 and 2005, the number of Americans with private health insurance coverage fell by 1 percent. But over the same period, employment at health insurance companies rose a remarkable 32 percent. What are all those extra employees doing?
Now we know at least part of the answer: they're working harder than ever at identifying people who really need medical care, and ensuring that they don't get it. In the past, they mainly concentrated on screening out applicants likely to get sick. Now, it seems, they're also devoting a lot of effort to finding pretexts for revoking insurance after they've already granted it. They typically do this by claiming that they weren't notified about some pre-existing condition, even if the insured wasn't aware of that condition when he or she bought the policy.
Welcome to the ugly world of American health care economics. <snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sick but Insured? Think Again
By Lisa Girion
The Los Angeles Times
Sunday 17 September 2006
Lawsuits accuse insurance companies of retroactively dumping families that rack up large bills. Firms defend their policies, but the state is investigating.
When Steve and Leslie Shaeffer's daughter, Selah, was diagnosed at age 4 with a potentially fatal tumor in her jaw, they figured their health insurance would cover the bulk of her treatment costs.
Instead, almost two years later, the Murrieta, Calif., couple face more than $60,000 in medical bills and fear the loss of their dream home. They struggle to stave off creditors as they try to figure out how Selah can keep seeing the physician they credit with saving her life.
"We're in big trouble," Leslie said.
Shortly after Selah's medical bills hit $20,000, Blue Cross stopped covering them and eventually canceled her coverage retroactively, refusing to pay for treatment, including surgery the insurer had authorized in advance. <SNIP>
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
