Politics

I’ve previously given arguments why the private insurance industry is not worth preserving and how nationalized health care would boost the economy. But even if legislation passes, there’s a justifiable fear that health care reform will fail – by making too many compromises, or by escalating costs even further. There’s a lot we can do to control the costs, and it doesn’t take a congressional commission. The blueprint already exists, many employers have tried it, and it works.

My last post about the failure of private health insurance was prompted by a conversation with a friend. Both of us are baby boomers, at that life-stage where we and our spouses work as much to secure affordable group health insurance as for the wages. Neither of our families has suffered major illnesses that would invite insurers to deny us coverage or offer us policies riddled with exclusions for “pre-existing conditions.

I was talking with a friend recently about health care reform and how it has divided the public. Both of us understand the concerns about government control. However, we can’t understand how our country could do worse than the private insurance “system”. As my friend put it, private insurers “add no value”. An insurance company wants a return on its money greatly exceeding its administrative costs. And the industry has done whatever it takes to get those returns: slow-pay on claims, denying coverage, excessive paperwork that frustrates physicians and patients alike.