Letter to THE EDITOR:

Insurers, government imperil health care

Michael K. Casler, Las Vegas

Sunday, July 5, 2009 | 2 a.m.

When I was a kid in the 1950s and early 1960s, my parents always paid for health care services directly to the doctor. Now, all most people pay directly to a doctor is a co-pay of $20 or so. Everything else is paid by insurance companies that are paid “premiums” by policyholders and employers.

This system has enriched two groups at the expense of the public — people in the insurance industry and people in the medical field. That is the real problem with health care.

Does anyone believe we would see the astronomical costs of virtually every medical service and supply if a person had to pay directly for it? Of course we wouldn’t.

Getting the government involved will not solve the problem, and asking the medical profession and insurance industry to voluntarily control costs will not solve it either. As long as the insurance industry and/or the government are involved in health care, costs will not be controlled, and care will be rationed. That’s how it is now and how it will be under President Barack Obama’s plan — once Congress gets done with it.

Two powerful groups, despite their protests to the contrary, like the system as it is and will be willing to go along with anything as long as they can keep raking in the big bucks. These two groups have powerful congressional lobbies that can and do sway votes.

Good luck to all us “little” people.

By the way, as a 56-year-old small-business owner in good health, I pay $650 per month for mediocre health insurance with a sizable deductible.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By uddeboda

7/5/09 at 2:56 a.m.

Suggest removal

Michael, Good luck to you, and your healthcare insurance, or as you put it, "mediocre health insurance", with a sizeable deductible, yet still costs you $650 a month, thats $7800 a year, and thats not pennies either.
A universal healthcare system would relieve you of the insurance payments, still having to pay small fee, perhaps $10 to $15 to see your doctor, yet subsequent referals to specialists, surgery, treatments etc etc would be free. Even your dental care would be on the same system. You may be thinking, whats all this going to cost to me. Taxes will certainly increase to fund a healthcare system, but no where near your $7800 that you are paying to insurers who are not providing reliable service. Even a round figure of $1000 per family, its easy to see how much could be made available for a healthcare system, not forgetting much cheaper medication, no need to travel to Mexico or buy from Canada.
By lvsundog

7/5/09 at 5:02 a.m.

Suggest removal

Mr. Casler, you do pay high premiums. Think of what they would be when you are 60, or 63, before you are eligible for medicare. That's if you can even get insurance then.

That is what the administration's efforts are trying to solve, not make it into a perfect system that will have no downside, because that is not possible.

The plutocrats cry that private insurance can't compete against a gov't plan. If they can't compete, they should not be in business. What they mean is that the stranglehold they have on a profitable system at the expense of the "little guy" will be weakened. As well it should.

Uddeboda is spot on.
By neiman1

7/5/09 at 8:28 a.m.

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We are suppose to insure the unexpected and the large expense that can devistate you. Insuring every trip to the doctor is like trying to buy insurance for food. When you add the cost of insurance and third party billing (or government) to ordinary expenses it always costs more. If you think the federal bureaucracy runs better than some insurance company you haven't seen a federal office.

Make insurance for accident, hospitalization, and chronic illness. We should not have insurance for the flu, a cold, or a trip to the chiropractor.
By GordonShumway

7/5/09 at 9:48 a.m.

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Michael K. Casler: At $650 a month your policy very likely has serious limitations in it's coverage. Read it carefully and consider that at your age, (no offense as I'm older than you), a serious illness could happen almost overnight and wipe out everything you have built up in your lifetime. It's happening everyday, and to people just like you and me. Believe me, you're insurance company will bail on you like they never knew you so please support overhaul of our health care system.
By DouglasDemocrat

7/5/09 at 9:51 a.m.

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"Make insurance for accident, hospitalization, and chronic illness."

Except insurance companies wouldn't get into the business if that's all you offered them - those three things cost more than they could EVER recoup in premiums unless the premiums were so high that almost no one could afford them.

Insurance only works if you have a pool of healthy individuals who rarely use their insurance to balance against those who use it more often. It's like auto insurance - the safe drivers bear part of the costs of the accident-prone.

Where the system is broken is that insurers ONLY WANT HEALTHY PEOPLE. That way, they can keep raking in obscene profits without having to offer too much in the way of services. Rescission of policies is up for those who come down with complex and expensive conditions.

And that's the flaw - when you create a market-driven health care system that seeks to maximize profit, you end up with a system that squeezes out the people who actually need it.