Saving the "For Profit" health
care system benefits who (patients ? taxpayers ? CEOs ?
Stockholders? Lobbyist ? Drug companies ?) and is paid for by
whom (premiums, government payouts like Medicare/Medicaid, etc. = YOU and me of
course).
Health insurance CEO salaries (aver $24
million/year and $600 million over 5 years) are high and increasing. click ref.
1 (or http://blogs.webmd.com/mad-about-medicine/2007/08/ceo-compensation-who-said-healthcare-is.html)
Salaries to other execs, bonuses, perks, profit, lobbyist,
campaign contributions, TV ads & attack TV ads
(e.g. "you don't
want a government run healthcare system"), etc. --- How much of your
health care dollar goes for these? 10%, 20%, 30%?
Profits are up too. "According
to the report, the big three carriers in Washington, Regence BlueShield, Premera Blue
Cross and Group Health Cooperative saw profits increase from $11 million in 2002 to $243
million in 2003 and $431 million in 2006. Their cash surplus went from $833 million in
2002 to $2.2 billion (with a "B") in 2006. Interestingly enough they did it
while covering less people. Over 2.37 million people were covered by the three in 2002
compared to 1.9 million in 2006. So the cost of health care is still going up, but the
profits by private health insurance companies are rising even faster. The article shows
medical costs rose 16 percent in the same period that health insurance profits went up 23
percent. In 2007, Washington legislators tried to pass a law allowing the Insurance
Commissioner to regulate health insurance rates. The law failed. I wonder who lobbied
lawmakers to stop it? Consumers who like paying higher insurance rates?"
click ref
2(or http://vancouver.injuryboard.com/miscellaneous/private-health-insurance-profits-soar.aspx?googleid=230780)
Why don't we have universal health care
after decades of efforts and attempts?
Bill Moyers: Video with health care exec
whistle blower (at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html)
Bill Moyers: Assessing
a "Public Option" for Health Care (at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2009/07/assessing_a_public_option_for.html)