Health Insurance Rates to Be Reviewed in 2011

[longfisher]

as i novice on any type of insurance,i don't understand how the govt can tell people what they HAVE to purchase,and not tell the company's selling it what standards they have to adhere to,and what to charge, i do know one thing along a similar line..we had state farm for our veicle insurance even when we moved to NC from SC ,a while ago we received a letter from state farm stating we had been getting overcharged by 18% and by signing the letter agreed to allow SF to continue to overcharge ,or our property insurance would be cancelled..now thats blackmail any way you look at it..we told them to stuff it,and after being a SF customer for 12 years they didn't care..now were with farm bureau and have lowered our costs by half. Any company who does business by means of blackmail and veiled threats needs to be regulated,unfortunately the NC insurance board is comprised by former members of the insurance groups..Nice huh?

There's state level regulation that prevents that sort of stuff here, and in many states, in health insurance. I'm grateful for that. But even that didn't go far enough. The insurers ran wild and became a social ill.

Health Reform was necessary, period. Unfortunately, it didn't go far enough.

Once some of the ignorant on this board figure out how dastardly the insurers have been for the last two decades and that their hatred of Obama is misplace, they'll be healthier...in more ways that one.

LF

[marine4003]

As much as LF & I have sparred..ya gotta give him credit, he's bringing to light the BS the insurance company's have been slinging at us for years,explaining just what some of this HC reform means to us..the end user. i for one think its admirable someone who indirectly profits from a specific enterprise "exposes" them for what they are...turdburgelers.

[Curmudgeon]

What LF is telling you is that the government will be deeper into controlling your health care in 2011, and insurance rates will go up at least 10% per year, year in and year out. What he's not telling you is that they will pay providers less and less (remember, most insurance payments are indexed to Medicare, which was cut $500 bil). He's not telling you who will provide your health care as more and more providers are driven out of business. And he's not telling you who will pay for the health care you can get, if not you. Health care insurer's had an aggregate profit margin of 3.4% in 2009. For most businesses (remember, insurance is a business and not a right), 3.4% isn't squat ...

[longfisher]

What LF is telling you is that the government will be deeper into controlling your health care in 2011, and insurance rates will go up at least 10% per year, year in and year out. What he's not telling you is that they will pay providers less and less (remember, most insurance payments are indexed to Medicare, which was cut $500 bil). He's not telling you who will provide your health care as more and more providers are driven out of business. And he's not telling you who will pay for the health care you can get, if not you. Health care insurer's had an aggregate profit margin of 3.4% in 2009. For most businesses (remember, insurance is a business and not a right), 3.4% isn't squat ...

...is that over time the uncontolled forces of Wall Street, the health insurers, the physicians, the hospitals and the drug and biomedical device companies will drive the U.S. directly into bankruptcy unless their prices are regulated or we'll be without meaningful healthcare for any but the extremely rich (no one on this board to my knowledge qualifies for that title) or there will be socialized medicine.

The regulation is the only thing now saving us from socialized medicine. And, were it not here even those of you who are currently bemoaning reform would soon, quite soon I think on the order of within a decade, beg for socialized medicine as you saw your lifespans shortened and your children die.

CHOOSE. Regulation or socialized medicine or death. The actors I mentioned above are not sympathetic to the middle class' woes. They're the extremely rich, I mentioned.

You're foolish if you think they won't squeeze you dry to get the last nickle you have before they bury you. They've done it over and over and over again in other areas. Remember when we all could look forward to:

1) pensions
2) retirement
3) a fair playing field in the markets
4) a fair mortgage
5) a credit card that didn't include fine print that would bankrupt us
6) a bank that didn't use our money for gambling
7) banks that went under under our "free market" but don't now.
8) politicians who responded to our grievance rather than just to those of the rich.

Those times are gone. Don't expect them to return without regulation.

LF

[Curmudgeon]

Regulation or socialized medicine or death.

Is there a difference? And the sky did fall ...