Weblogic

The entire concept of insurance is a rip off. Imagine if you had to pay a food insurance provider each month and then go to the grocery store where they would allow you a set amount of food products and have the right to refuse your request for more food. At the same time eating away 50% of every dollar you paid in for administrative fees. Pay as you go is the answer, eliminate malpractice liability, fire the insurance companies all together.

Well Dah!!!

Make health insurance mandatory like social security. Wring waste out of medicare. Make all hospital and health insurers not-for-profit organizations. Impose taxes on all unhealthy foods. Maximize size of all portions in restaurants. Change menus in all schools to health supporting ones. Have health care coordinators for all chronically-ill patients to cut waste. These are just a few ideas to begin with. And, oh yes, to eliminate the stupidity in congress, prohibit all attorneys from ever running for political office.
And never forget this: half the people in America are below average.

Wellpoint is justified to raise it's rates in the current environment. That is, a reduction in the pool of insured will raise rates. In addition, as a for profit organization, it has a responsiblity to try and earn a competitive return on equity, or investment. However, this points to the problem with our health care structure at present. Private industry should not be in the business of providing basic health care since I believe it is a necessity, and should not be rationed by economic factors only. The private healthcare industry provides no value to the end product. Thus they should not exist except for in a boutique fashion. (IE excess or specialty care). Public or Government run programs such as the VA or Medicare have proven to be much more efficient than private plans. So, in my opinion, eventually we will have to transform the American Healthcare system into a single payer system. Due to mis-understandings, and an un-informed public however, this change will be incremental and prove to be a long process.

The insurance companies are right up there with big oil and the pharmaceutical companies; the bottom line is all they are concerned about, and the worst part is, the MDs are working for them, not us. This country needs to adopt a single-payer system and do it quickly. Eliminate the insurance companies altogether, give everyone the same coverage that government employees( senators, representatives, etc)have. If the boys and girls on Capital Hill were struggling with health care like us 'common folk' are, this would happen in a flash.

If healthcare companies are making large profits, apparently, there isn't sufficient competition. Eliminate (or standardize/make uniform) interstate regulations, allow companies to work across state lines, and prices will drop to reasonable margins. This is an issue that the States could solve if they would work together. A straight forward set of minimum requirements for insurance companies would do the trick.

Current intra state regulations create a narrow number of competitors to the detriment of consumers.

Pharmaceutical companies have managed to convince Physicians that we no longer have diseases, but "pre-Disease', therefore it is imperative that we take drugs to prevent them. However, we seem to be just getting sicker and sicker. I sincerely believe that pharma is taking well persons and making them sick with all their"miracle Drugs". For the past 35 years (except when I was burnt severely) i have not taken any drug for anything. Right now, I do not eat any processed food,(so i do not buy stuff in Groceries, but in the fresh market) do not drink alcohol except occasionally, and do not smoke.
My BP is 120/80, do not have cancer nor Diabetes, slightly overweight form lack of exercise

What I heard on TV the other day. When some insurance company was talking about profits they make. It was in the millions a year profit. Like oil companies and many other companies, like Wal-Mart. The profits are more then they need. But!! still never pass it along to us. The rates go higher and higher. They cut their employees hours or lay off. WHY? Someone or many are getting money that most of us don't see in a life time.
Like when the cap came off electric. They raise rates 30% and now some like PPL are asking for another higher rate.
When the US is in it's worse times. These folks are wanting more and more.

Some profit is expected - that is the way capitalism functions. Huge profits created by increasing premiums are not acceptable.

Obviously I may appear a little biased because of my profession. But, I can't understand why in america, the home of free enterprise, we can't understand that the free market, when done right, always prevails. Competition always works when allowed to thrive. If not, where do we stop with government takeovers of industry? Shouldn't home, auto, commercial, and life insurance also be nationalized if health insurance is? The basic argument is the same, if health insurance is just a bloated middle man then it is for the other types of insurance also. Believe me, government run health care will be even more bloated, you just won't have the super high paid executives, which in reality have very little to do with the overall cost. (When you have executives being overpaid by several million that is very small compared to the multi-billion dollar budgets these companies have). These things although wrong have to be looked at proportionately as do profits.
I passionately believe we need health care reform but we don't want the fox(govt.) guarding the hen house to take it over because then we have no other choice.
And, yes healthcare is a basic need but so is food, so why don't we let the govt. take over the food industry also? I mean they have proven themselves over and over again to be a failure at just about everything they do, but yes lets put them in charge.
AND Finally, the only area of health care to lower its costs has been in the field of vision care and guess what? It has no government involvement it has competition. Fair Competition is the answer to all our economic problems because it forces us to evolve and innovate.
And what about america looking at itself? 1/3 or more of my clients are obese, 2/3 never exercise and a majority of my clients are older. These three factors alone have doubled the rate of increase in premiums. Take those three factors out and we would not be having this debate... THINK ABOUT IT....lets take some responsibility america. Of course the politicians would never mention that and we really don't want them to do we. We would rather blame the insurance companies. The politicians have done a job on america but their is hope, I believe we are starting to wake up a little.

Growing up we didn't have health ins. You went to the doctor and payed for it. You went to the hospital and payed for it. If you couldn't get to the doctor, he came to your house and you paid for it. We were not rich by any means and were able to afford it.
Now we have health insurance. More is spent in one month on premiums than our whole family uses in a year or two... mandatory insurance. Yes some operations can cost a lot and that is where ins. should be. The pharms raise their prices because the ins. will pay. If the ins. wasn't there, the prices would be lower.
The levels for optimum health have been lowered for different conditions which in turn puts more people on drugs...lots more money for all involved (drug companies, doctors, pharmacies).
Example: Cholesterol level guidelines were lowered which put millions more on drugs.
One shouldn't have to turn to the government to help pay the ins. premium, and it really doesn't help much! So, the government gets involved and the rates still keep going up and up. The ins. company will say "We now have a plan to keep your rates the same." Great—less coverage, higher deductible.
Why does the insurance company-year differ from the Insurance plan year? Our ins. plan goes from Nov.-Nov. Their year goes from Jan.-Jan. So if you change plans, you will pay the deductible twice...Nov to Jan and then it starts over on Jan 1st. Sneaky @#$%$%^. Called them on this and they said if you don't change plans, it won't happen.

Our country loves its freedom to make as much $$$ as possible, and those corporations who are doing so, sell this "patriotic" notion to the working class who defend it with their flag waving. They don't realize that they are already paying the price via their own high premiums or via taxes that cover the uninsured. Buyers beware! Let's just provide a public option, a non-profit health care system that only covers those who choose it, and see how many end up choosing it. That is freedom! But like guns, it will not be easy to tear the health insurance industry's profits from it cold hearted death grip!

It is easy to criticize when one does not have all the facts. There are too many facets of the health insurance business to make a glibe & quick answer. One of the facts which we should all try to take into consideration is that in the Insurance industry the least successfull companies are those selling health insurance. More failures occur in the health insurance field than any other.

I can't begin to offer a simple solution, however. We need to allow all sides to weigh in.

Just changed Insurance Companies and now the new company says that the cost of my Rx is over $5,000.00 a month. Just a couple of months ago with the old company it was Around $3,400.00. This was shown on the Rx receipt and there was no reason for the cost increase with the new company. They just said "Look how much money that your insurance just saved you!" Are you kidding me? The cost did not just jump up that much. This is a ploy by the Rx companies to make you believe that you are really getting their help with the costs. We need reform of the insurance industry and Big Farma. Stop their abuse of the existing system. Give us some controll. This is rediculious.

The government is not the answer, it is the problem. When free markets are allowed to function, make no mistake about it, they will provide the most efficient,and effective delivery system for health care. We should take employers completely out of the supply chain and give each consumer the freedom to choose.
The only role government should play is in the form of tax policy. Any expense related to health care should be 100% tax deductible. Whether it be insurance premiums, or health care services, or prescription drugs. Make the insurance companies compete for and work for the customer. The individual consumer. Get rid of state and federal regulations on insurance so that you have competition in a free market place, next thing you know Walmart will be selling it and the price of health care will drop quicker than "Jimmy Swaggert's pants in a cheap motel room".

They should not be able to raise the rates that high because most of us can not afford the basic cost as it is. Some of us are on Medicare and can not pay any more for supplimental insurance.

As stated above insurance should be manditory and no excuses from the insurance companies saying you don't qualify because of pre-existing conditions. these people are the first one who should get it

The VA Healthcare system should be upgraded to a good quality system - they cannot make it perfect, but if the political anmd humane will is present then they can raise the standard of care it provides and then everyone ought to be able to sit under its umbrella, not just those that were in the military.

Members and ex-members of military services have no greater entitlement to "free at point of delivery" healthcare than the men and women that manufacture the equipment they use, or those whose taxes go to fund military, defense, and war programmes.

As a veteran with service in two theatres of war I no not consider myself any more entitled to special care and attention than those that never donned uniform or served under the colours, but whose contributions to the nation have been and are being made in other ways.

The US healthcare system costs more than twice as much per capita as do the Canadian and British systems, and they include universal coverage from conception until the last breath is drawn. Moreover, the standards of the UK NHS are much higher than the standards in the US. That may be a bitter pill to swallow for jingoists whose love for overstatement about and justification for a deeply flawed system overshadows their love of truth.

The US does NOT have THE BEST healthcare in the world, and the proof of that is out there. The US system is extended to approximately 80% of Americans, and that means that about 20% of Americans have NO HEALTHCARE COVERAGE AT ALL.

Contrast that with the 100% of British citizens AND RESIDENTS whether British or not that enjoy 100% access to health care at all levels, at all ages, and without

1. RATIONING
2. DENIAL
3. CUT-OFF
4. REFERENCE TO PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, and without any scintilla of
5. GOVERNMENT CONTROL.

That it is otherwise is a POISONED APPLE slipped into essential debates by a GOP/RNC that has sold out to the highest bidders and in so doing have turned their backs on the American electorate. Thus they are traitors to 'THE PEOPLE' and to the US CONSTITUTION and should be impeached for their signal failures to conduct themselves according to the Conttitutional Principles they have sworn to uphold.

As to their imitation of "Ahmedinejab the Frightener," their lies are easily exposed, and have been so denounced by those whose interest in the UK's NHS is not warped by someone stuffing millions of dollars into their open craws.

More than 100 top UK NHS doctors signed an open letter to U.S. senators to counter GOP LIES' about the British National Health Service [NHS], that has been the subject of vicious attacks by senior Republicans LIARS that are angry at President Obama's plans to reform healthcare in the USA. British Tory M European P Daniel Hannan embarrassed the Tory [Conservative] leadership when he appeared on American TV and called NHS as a '60-year-old mistake'.

Top British doctors have written an open letter to Senator John Kerry, who called for evidence from the medical profession to show that Republican lies about the NHS were unfounded. These doctors includ former president of the Royal College of Physicians Sir George Alberti and Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, and patient groups, and pointed out to Tea Baggers, HMO Lobbyists, and treachery Senators in the pay of the big insurance companies the proven facts and that life expectancy is longer in the UK than the U.S. - proving that the NHS is a better system.

While everyone in the UK gets access to healthcare, free at the point of need, in the U.S. it is only available to those who have private insurance.

Some 45million people have no health insurance whatsoever, and 25million are not insured for all health conditions.

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These top medical doctors say it is important that they 'EXPOSE THOSE LIES WHICH ARE ABOUT OUR NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, a service which our experience shows to WORK SUCCESSFULLY FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL IN THIS COUNTRY.'

Opponents of President Obama's healthcare reform plans say he wants to bring in 'socialised medicine' as seen in the UK. They claim that Edward Kennedy, who died last month of a brain tumour, would have died much earlier had he had to rely on the NHS - as treatment would have been withdrawn due to his age. One REPUBLICAN liar claimed that renowned physicist and Nobelist, Professor Stephen Hawking, who has motor neurone disease, would already be dead 'AS THE NHS WOULD HAVE DECIDED NOT TO TREAT HIM!'

But the TRUTH is there is NO CUT=OFF AGE for healthcare in the NHS. Ted Kennedy, like anyone else of that age, or older, and with health problems such as his, would have been treated by the NHS with the same high levels of care as someone younger. STOP THE LIES!

NHS Elder care includes free flu vaccinations, free medication, free operations , nursing care visits, and help and adaptions for the home. Many hospitals now offer "hospital to home" programs for palliative and end of life care to enable very ill people to remain at home, and GPs make daily visits to homes as a traditional part of the NHS.

Professor Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University, was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, is disabled and has always been under the care of the UK NHS. Hawking is an outspoken admirer of NHS care. Like thousands of others who are disabled, he is entitled to free medical care and medicine, and he can get adaptions, equipment and home care to allow him to live at home.

There is NO TRUTH in U.S. claims that the NHS has 'PALINESQUE DEATH PANELS', which decide who should be saved and who should die, on the basis of cost.

They also dismissed FALSE [LYING] CLAIMS that on the NHS, mothers are told to abort children if they have abnormalities. And these impeachable medicos say THE NHS'sthe NHS's universal coverage was better than the U.S. system where people only get help if they have private insurance.

'In the U.S., people with pre-existing health problems are rarely covered by private insurance companies for those problems, but in the UK pre-existing health problems are not denied care.

The NHS is funded by taxes and provides universal coverage while costing 8 per cent of UK GDP. The U.S. system currently costs 16 per cent of GDP but leaves 45million without insurance and a further 25million under-insured. Plus, survey after survey shows that British patients express a high degree of satisfaction with the care they personally receive from the NHS. On average, British users of the NHS live longer and have a lower infant mortality rate than the U.S.'

Dr Jacky Davis, a London radiologist says: 'There's so much ignorance and malice around this issue in the US,' she said. 'The debate is skewed by vested interests - the healthcare companies who make millions of dollars of profits every year - with their campaign of misinformation.
'

I am a former NHS Mental Health Professional.

Ronnie Bray

well I guess they are going to price themselfs out of business . I suppose like some car insurance's if you file a claim them will drop you! Well where does it start and stop.. ?? Was in the hospital for a coloscopy and ended up costing about 3,000 for an hour .. duh! Heck that is about 2 months wages ..

Ronnie Bray-- If it's true what you say, what kind of tax rate do you have? The Health Insurance Plan here has put me in the poor house. I had to re-finance my house to get out. With increasing rates and less service, it's heading that way again. Now Mitt Romney, on tv tonight is saying that it is Great what he put in place for Massachusetts Health care and the rest of the country should follow. He is not saying if he is going to run for President...I hope not.

The healthcare system has failed. Too much waste, too expensive, and uneven and often poor results. With some courage, we could do so much better.

Health Insurance premiums will never be under control until they have a realistic idea of how many people are being treated. If you don't have the money for it, then why is this program being forced upon us? It's because our government is corrupt in a lot of areas, and until government is controlled by the people, nothing will ever change. Anything government does to tax health care and businesses will automatically be passed on to the consumer, but remember, government hasn't done such a great job of running Congress, so we don't want them to control the Health Care Industry.