If everyone in the USA dropped their health insurance, would our economy collapse?
Posted on Mar 30, 2008 under Insurance Information |I've often wondered if health care would become easily affordable if insurance companies didn't have any influence over how much a service or a pill cost. But insurance companies use the money we give them for major investments in many goods and services. I see the total abolishment of health insurance as being similar to the abolishment of slavery back when our founding fathers were starting our country. It just wasn't economically feasable at that time, they said. Would our economy collapse if health insurance was abolished and doctors, hospitals and drug companies had to compete for business by lowering prices?
March 30th, 2008 at 3:34 am
Interesting question, but the problem is this:
the government unconstitutionally inserted itself into health care years ago.
Even if all of the folks with PRIVATE insurance dropped it in protest, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and a host of other programs would go on, draining our wallets.
You are, however, on to a couple of important things:
One, health insurance DOES drive up costs. Because the media is for UHC they don't report the facts: the uninsured subsidize the insured in the US. By focusing on illegals who get FREE care, people pretend ALL uninsured get free care. This is completely false.
Second, the current system IS unsustainable because it's rigged–the hospitals do NOT charge appropriately, health insurers ROUTINELY deny legit claims in violation of contract law, and antitrust laws are routinely violated with impunity.
When 75% of the people who declare bankruptcy over medical bills ARE INSURED, then insurance is CLEARLY not the answer.
"Aldrich’s situation is "asinine" but increasingly common, said Dr. Deborah Thorne of Ohio University. Thorne, co-author of a widely quoted 2005 study that found medical bills contributed to nearly half of the 1.5 million personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. each year, said that ratio has likely worsened since the data was gathered.
…
Like Aldrich, Thorne said, three-quarters of the individuals in the study who declared bankruptcy because of health problems were insured. "
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20201807/
Linda Peeno, MD testified that SHE had often denied treatment JUST to save the insurance company money http://www.thenationalcoalition.org/DrPeenotestimony.html
Furthermore:
"the vast majority of health insurance policies are through for-profit stock companies. They are in the process of “shedding lives” as some term it when “undesirable” customers are lost through various means, including raising premiums and co-pays and decreasing benefits (Britt, “Health insurers getting bigger cut of medical dollars,” 15 October 2004, investors.com). That same Investors Business Daily article from 2004 noted the example of Anthem, another insurance company. They said the top five executives (not just the CEO) received an average of an 817 percent increase in compensation between 2000 and 2003. The CEO, for example, had his compensation go from $2.5 million to $25 million during that time period. About $21 million of that was in stock payouts, the article noted.
A 2006 article, “U.S. Health Insurance: More Market Domination, More CEO Compensation”
(hcrenewal.blogspot.com) notes that in 56 percent of 294 metropolitan areas one insurer “controls more than half the business in health maintenance organization and preferred provider networks underwriting." In addition to having the most enrollees, they also are the biggest purchasers of health care and set the price and coverage terms. “’The results is double-digit premium increases from 2001 and 2004—peaking with a 13.9 percent jump in 2003—soaring well above inflation and wages increases.’" Where is all that money going? The article quotes a Wall Street Journal article looking at the compensation of the CEO of UnitedHealth Group. His salary and bonus is $8 million annually. He has benefits such as the use of a private jet. He has stock-option fortunes worth $1.6 billion."
–Save America, Save the World by Cassandra Nathan pp. 127-128
"Insurance Companies Robbing Patients
Robbing patients to pay CEOs leads to unprecedented medical insurance corporation greed.
Thursday, January 3, 2008 8:52 AM
By: Michael Arnold Glueck & Robert J. Cihak, The Medicine Men"
http://www.newsmax.com/medicine_men/medical_insurance/2008/01/03/61543.html
Space limits don't let me show the info, but check out these for eye-openers:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2007/db20071120_397008.htm
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/10/loudon_hospital.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/hca_suit.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news03/yale.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/19/washington/19tax.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/09/npo_hospitals.html
Virtually everything people think they know about health care in the US is incorrect–the media and pols LIE routinely. The actual problems are ignored. Someone who did her homework did come up with corrections and a way to revise the unconstitutional health care the feds offer (she wants to transition to CORRECTED private sector at least the state level where it doesn't violate Amendments IX and X):
QUALITY, ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE health care for all.
That means preventative care (physical with follow up). Real medication (no Medicare "donut holes" the really ill are ripped off again.) No bogus ridiculously low "caps" on needed medical procedures. No abuse of the ER. No paying for the silly with the sniffles to go to the doc for free. No more bankruptcies over medical bills. I want THIS plan that ends abuse of the taxpayer, takes the burden off employers, provides price transparency, and ends the rip-off of the US taxpayer at the hands of greedy insurance CEOs (which has been repeatedly documented).
http://www.booklocker.com/books/3068.html
Read the PDF, not the blurb, for the bulk of the plan. Book is searchable on Amazon.com
Cassandra Nathan's Save America, Save the World
March 30th, 2008 at 3:34 am
If people were not insured most would not have the available cash to pay for the high tech treatment that is used for many conditions. CAT scans MRI's Ultrasound examinations make diagnosis more accurate and so save lives would probably be used less.There would be fewer new drugs and medical innovation, but it would probably not cause a large decrease in life expectancy. How much it would reduce cost would depend on what happens to the people who can not pay. Do you let them go without care, have the government pay or cost shift to other patients. We spend 15% of GDP on health care while other countries spend nearer 10% so the economy would almost certianly take a hit. But another way to look at the question is what better use of our "excess" wealth is there than improving health care. More Macmansions, vacations, or other luxury goods or a longer healthier life.
March 30th, 2008 at 3:34 am
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