Wednesday, August 19
Health Insurers are Horrible Capitalists
Yeah Joe Scarborough is rendered speechless when Representative Weiner (did you know he was Jon Stewart's college roommate?) makes the point that insurance companies do not provide a commodity and are really, really bad capitalists.
If I paid Joe Scarborough 600 dollars in June to clean my house for a year, and in late August he decided he wouldn't do it anymore because all of a sudden my kids are home and the house NEEDS more cleaning than it did in the summertime, I could SUE him for my money back. Insurance companies that drop coverage when their customers actually use their product, whether it's home or health insurance, are building the worst ill-will possible against their industry.
I know a guy who called his homeowner's insurance company to find out IF he should file a claim for some damage, and immediately after that INQUIRY, where no claim was filed, his insurance was dropped. Really. If you're selling a product that you then STEAL back when the purchaser uses it, you are not a capitalist you are a thief. That's not insurance.
Ill-will against the insurance industry is where we need to go with this debate. They're cheating their customers. They have a MONOPOLY in most states in which they operate. And they do not provide a product like a car or a frozen pizza, where a cheaper quadruple by-pass is available for poor people. Joe didn't want that complicated point brought into the debate on his show, so he clutched his pearls and went to commercial.
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I recommend that people NEVER call homeowners insurance until they find out how much deductible v. pay out of pocket.
ReplyDeleteLook up C.L.U.E. (CLUE; Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange). Not only will your ins. company raise your rates (or maybe drop you), but they share the info with other insurance companies.
I would be hesitant to file for anything water related. They worry about mold, and raise rates thru the roof. And, it may even screw up house sale when new owner can't get insurance, and then mortgage can't go through.
Whoa, Frannie baby!
ReplyDeleteGood start. Let's round up a posse!
S
Ill-will against the insurance industry is where we need to go with this debate. They're cheating their customers. They have a MONOPOLY in most states in which they operate. And they do not provide a product like a car or a frozen pizza, where a cheaper quadruple by-pass i(s) available for poor people.
BG - if you ever want to learn of insurance malfeasance, you need look no farther than at what happened in California with earthquake insurance.
ReplyDeleteThey literally held the entire state hostage - the entire industry threatened to leave California unless the state took over the risk of earthquakes. No homeowners, no car, no health insurance...
And of course, the politicians gave in.
Regards,
Tengrain
I am the nightmare health care statistic you read so much about. Don't get me wrong I am a very, very, very, lucky to have survived all my heath problems over the past 4 years. However in 2004 I was upper middle class ,with excellent health insurance and to day I'm homeless, living in a friends home rent free because we cannot afford our health insurance premiums and paying rent.
ReplyDeleteBetween the premiums, the co-pays and deductibles we were shelling out over $40,000.00 annually for several years. I was to sick to work full time and lost my business.
I will be losing my insurance this fall because I moved to North Carolina, where my friends house is located, and Blue Cross of NC turned me down for coverage due to my preexisting condition. So on the bright side we can pay our friend some rent money, to help cover her overhead, once our health insurance is revoked.
So yes the public option is the single most important aspect of the Health Bill.
OG
Except that insurance frequently is paid not upfront for an extended period of time, but every 6 months to a year. If after the agreed time frame the insurance company decides not to reinsure then you have perfect capitalism. Charge a lot and provide as little as possible for that price.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that individuals cannot self insure. Therefore, it is necessary for the government to either insure or set firm guidelines to prevent people from privation due to catastrophic loss.