[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Pooka

Here is a very interesting article:10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care

Here are 2 more

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...h-care-reform/


http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...t-health-care/

Originally Posted by Pooka

And no... Health Insurers are not Profitable... there margin is below 3%

I guess it depends who you believe...

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/03/09/zirkelbach-profits/

But the argument that insurers run a tight ship is misleading, on several counts, not least of which is the fact that insurers are planning to spend “more than $1 million” not on health care claims — as their justification for the premium hikes would suggest — but “to run television ads on cable stations nationwide beginning in the next few days to push back on the attacks on insurers.”

That $1 million ad fund will presumably come from the one penny that goes towards health care profits. But this too is misleading. Zirkelbach is clever enough to compare the private insurance industry’s administrative spending to national health care expenditures — 45 percent of which includes spending in Medicare, Medicaid and other public programs. In the context of total spending, insurers administrative costs may look small, but compared to the revenues of private insurers, administrative spending is seen as far more substantial. Insurers skim off 15-20 percent of premium dollars for administrative costs and profits which fund TV ad campaigns, Washington lobbyists, lavish company retreats and outlandish CEO salaries.

Originally Posted by Pooka

Opening the "pool" to include everyone regardless of pre-existing condition is going to bankrupt these companies. They balance the risk and raise rates based on demographics including, but not limited to age, gender and overall health of the population sharing the risk ... or the "pool" if we are all in it... well...

Except that the pool will include healthy people, too.