Here's one of the most fucked up parts of private health insurance...

[Gravitycollapse]

Let us consider, for a moment, life before the ACA...

Health insurance companies refused to cover those who needed health insurance the most. They told the chronically ill to go on public programs. Private insurance shills ran around talking about how the private insurance system cannot assume the burden of those with chronic illness.

Well, okay, then let's have a public system for those who can't or won't use private insurance.

Private insurance response: NO NO NO, YOU'RE DESTROYING PRIVATE INSURANCE. WE HAVE TO LOBBY ENDLESSLY TO CRUSH THE PUBLIC OPTION.

Okay, so health insurance companies don't want to treat the chronically ill and they don't want anyone else to either.This leads me to only one conclusion: Private insurance companies and their lapdogs wanted the sick to die off in hopes that all of their customer base would end up being populated by healthy individuals. When more chronically ill come along, let them die off.

There really isn't much of a practical difference between such an insistence and Nazi eugenics. One may be more focused upon profit margins while the other is a commentary on charismatically insane cult of personalities. But the end game is the same for both. The more undesirables who die off, the better. And both systems did or are doing everything in their power to expedite such deaths.

The ACA has helped with the laws making preexisting condition denials illegal. But we are still dealing with insurance companies who have demonstrated a historically vested interest in letting undesirables die off as sacrifice for greater profits and less competition. They know public programs would excel and Americans would eventually abandon private insurance all together. That level of greed and inhumanity is fucking terrifying.

[Rstrstx]

1. I disagree

If they are forced by the ACA to spend 80% of their revenue on health services what good would it do them to let people die off? If they did they'd have to lower their prices to make sure their take stayed at 20%. And if you do the math, 20% of $1,000,000,000 is better than 20% of $500,000,000, even though they probably would not need twice as much revenue to run the show. So no, I don't see why they would "want" people to die off; they'll get their money.

Now the Republicans on the other hand....eh, don't get me started.

[eridani]

3. Public plans like Medicare spend 97% on care

Just sayin.'

[bvar22]

7. just hearing,

and NOW we get the privilege of subsidizing another giant Industry to the tune of many BILLIONS per year.
At least we get something back from subsidizing the Oil Corporations.
We get NOTHING from the Health Insurance Industry.

Billions for NOTHING....
The Uniquely American Solution!

[grahamhgreen]

2. As Grayson said: "don't get sick, if you do, die quickly"

[dchill]

4. It's just business.

Don't take it personal.

[dougolat]

5. "Ya aint seen nuthin yet!" one thing driving up health needs....

...is an unhealthy place to live and unhealthy food. Problems in these areas can be expected to add to future health-needs.

Pollution has health costs, and chronic illnesses aren't getting rarer.

If there's more money in "treatment" than "cure", which does the business model pursue?

[Gravitycollapse]

8. Medicalization is a clearly documented wealth producer in the medical industry.

Sexual dysfunction is one of the clearest cases. If you make people think they're sick, then create a "cure" for said sickness, you rake in the cash.

[Fumesucker]

6. Evidently the government view is that the best way to deal with a vampire

Is to make sure they have as many victims as possible.

There are those of us who blame insurance companies for killing loved ones, being forced into the oh-so-loving arms of the insurance industry is both insulting and infuriating.