Common Sense Health Care Reform :: Asking the “Right Questions”!
The Health Care Reform debate becomes to focus of congress. (MMM) The congressmen are safely back in Washington, away from their “town hall” meetings. Never have so many been so happy to ESCAPE from their constituents. The baby boomers are afraid of changes, better the “devil you know than the one you don’t know” as the saying goes. The shocking true of the matter is that “The Government” is the problem in all aspects of our lives. They have created the health care problems we have today! To let the “Federal Government” control 1/5 of our economy is sheer madness! Congress can’t balance the budgets of Medicare, Medicaid,Social Security,Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Sally Mae, and a budget busting 800 more programs which only re-distributes the wealth through forced confiscation profits, otherwise known as taxes. Now, “the wise old men and women of Congress”, will begin tackling health care reform. The ambiguous term “health care reform” is used describe just about everything dealing with health insurance. The all encompassing term “Health Care Reform” can mean: affordability,accessibility, universality,quality,quantity, and the all encompassing term “responsibility”. Who is responsible to pay, to regulate, define the rules for regulations, genetic data mining and storage, defining diseases, diagnostics, caloric and dietary standards,…… the list goes on. MMM Not only will congress try to address these problem..LOL, but they have picked the insurance industry. The insurance industry is the least understood industry by the average American. Yet congress will try to vilify the insurance industry as both “Villain and Vanquished”, while the American people are Victims.
The insurance industry is like no other industry, touching the lives of every American through state laws and mandates, yet it is the least understood industry by the average American. The whole “health care reform” debate is based on public ignorance. The politicians are exploiting the general public ignorance of the insurance industry for political gain. Most people only have knowledge of the basic forms of insurance:
- LIFE INSURANCE
- HEALTH INSURANCE
- HOME/AUTO
Let me explain, the “government” has imposed rules and regulations on insurance companies which have a negative unintended consequences.
First, insurance companies are not free to operate across state lines. We have 50 state insurance commissioners, one for each state. That’s 50 layers of bureaucracy to negotiate before companies can do business in each state. The insurance commissioner of each state is usually a member of the insurance companies in each state and a political appointee by the Governor of the state. The insurance commissioner is supposed to be a consumer “watchdog” enforcing state laws. When the commissioner’s term of service is up, they return to the insurance industry or retire. The title, “state insurance commissioner“ gives credit ability for writing books, being an insurance lobbyist., or running for political office. Making sweeping changes from the insurance commissioner’s point of view is not on the “fast track” for their career goals.
Each state has their approved lists of “captive companies”, which are allowed to do business within the state. When competition is introduced by another company, there is fierce opposition to those companies who are already doing business in the state. Usually this is settled behind closed door meetings, just as they did on Wall Street this time last year when the markets were crashing.
When one company, ABC is doing business in the state, another company, XYZ applies to do business in the state. The State’s Insurance Commissioner must decide if company XYZ can compete for the same business as company ABC. If the costs of the product or services are similar, but a major difference is price for the consumer, the State Insurance commissioner may deny them access. Why you may ask? The state insurance commissioner may feel that company XYZ may not be “solvent” enough to offer a better price, or that company XYZ is engaging in “policy churning” to secure the business. If the new company, XYZ becomes insolvent, the state will take over the policies and put them into the state’s trust fund, sorta like the FDIC does for insolvent banks. So, in essence, the state insurance commissioner can approve or deny competing companies which offer a competitive price advantage to the consumer. You, the consumer, don’t choose your insurance company, the insurance commish chooses for you. So much for “Free Market Capitalism“, in the insurance company.
Why are there 50 state insurance commissioners? Now, that is asking the “right Question”!
Elimination of the 50 state insurance commissioners is the first step for “common sense health care reform.”
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