Health Insurance in America: Legalized Extortion

[unhappycamper]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Health-Insurance-in-Americ-by-Kurt-F-Stone-130519-426.html



Health Insurance in America: Legalized Extortion
By Kurt F. Stone
OpEdNews Op Eds 5/19/2013 at 07:45:32

Included in yesterday's mail were two ominous envelopes, one addressed to me, the other to my wife. They were from our health insurance company. Being that this is mid-May, I knew what the contents of the envelopes would be: one-page letters informing us what our insurance premiums are going to run in the coming year. With sweaty palms and racing heart, I began operating on the envelopes, terrified by the news that would be contained therein. Last year at this time, our premiums rose 14.6%; the year befo re that slightly under 13%; the year before that 15.8%. Envelopes open, I gingerly removed the one-page form letters addressed to "Dear Member." Reading the twin missives of doom took less than 30 seconds. My worst fears had actually been bested by the reality of it all; beginning July 1st, our premiums would be going up an additional 25% . . . 25% . . . 25%!

Yes indeed; as of July 1st, we will be paying the princely sum of $34,934.88 for a year's worth of "coverage" that includes neither dental nor vision nor podiatry, carries a $10,000 deductible, and is regularly refused by many doctors because the company doles out payment with a costive eyedropper. And, to add mortal insult to lethal injury, this outrage comes fast on the heels of my wife being denied -- once again -- coverage for a crucial pain-reducing procedure because, in the opinion of some company stooge she ". . . does not present sufficient pain to warrant said procedure." And just last month, they denied my doctor's order for an MRI because, once again, they deemed it "unnecessary."

Now mind you, my wife and I are both reasonably health-conscious people. We don't smoke or drink, stick to healthy diets (keeping kosher in a largely non-kosher world forces one to eat lot of salad, fruit and fish) and get a reasonable amount of exercise. (I for one am a long-time inveterate gym rat.) We are healthy people who live active lives despite having conditions that might lay others low. In other words, we do everything in our power to be as healthy as is humanly possible. And yet, we are about to begin paying nearly $35,000.00 for a year's worth of what is truly substandard health insurance coverage.

To put the rate of increase into perspective, two years ago, my wife's monthly take home pay from her part time position as an instructor at a local community college covered our monthly premium. With this newest spike (and a concomitant cutback in her teaching hours), it now will take nearly 3 month's take home pay to cover but a single month's premium. Our annual insurance premium will be about 50% more than what we pay for the mortgage on our home and a rental property.

[clutter424]

1. Change your outlook

Think of it this way. The massive overhead you're paying will allow a poor CEO to buy his sixth mansion somewhere in the Bahamas, when all of his other CEO friends might have seven or eight. Feel better?

[Cal33]

2. Yes, the present sociopathic GOP leadership is well known for its tactic of legalizing criminal

activities, so that they may commit these crimes with impunity. And some
Democrats, for one reason or another, seem to be willing to appease them,
and actually help them achieve these goals.

Has political morality ceased to exist in our nation?

[JayhawkSD]

3. I have been hospitalized twice in the last five years.

Five years ago I had a lung crisis that had me in intensive care for a week and in the hospital for another week. The cost for those two weeks, including a full week of intensive care was $59,000.

This winter I was in the hospital, same hospital, for pnuemonia for one week. No intensive care, just regular care with IV antibiotics. The cost for that hospital stay was $58,000.

Intensive care costs twice what regular care does, so in non-inflated terms we should be looking at $59,000 and $19,600 for the two visits, but the visit which should have cost $19,600 had gone up to $58,000, a 195% increase. Insurance had nothing to do with that higher cost, other than to pay the higher bill. Understandably, they pass that higher cost on in the form of larger premiums.

Granted, the insurance company did not pay the entire amount in either case, they paid the contracted amount. But that contracted amount had gone up by the same 195% that the gross billing did.

And so we curse the evil insurance companies and call them monsters, while we bless the wonderful hospitals who are seemingly filled with wonderful caring people who don't want any money and would, supposedly, reject a dollar if we handed it to them. The reality is that insurance companies are operating at an average profit margin of below 10% while hospitals routinely make profit margins in the 50% range.

[area51]

4. And THIS

is what we'll be forced to pay with GingrichCare, instead of single-payer or a public option.

[Doctor_J]

5. Not only legal - now it's codified

Last edited Tue May 21, 2013, 04:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Not only CAN they rob us. We pretty much now HAVE to pay their extortion fees.

OTOH the health insurance companies are not the only ones. Our government has bee given to the corporations. We pay more for internet, TV, health "care", phone service, road usage, education, and on and on. I see no hope

[bemildred]

6. Health "insurance" is a racket. nt