Does society need a private health insurance industry?

[Klukie]

What services do they provide that public insurance couldn't?

[leftstreet]

1. No n/t

[hughee99]

2. Pet insurance, maybe. n/t

[Newest Reality]

3. They do provide

good, high-paying careers for CEOs and executives. Plus, they create lots of lobbyists. Oh, and don't forget the benefits to investors.

[peace13]

4. No but politicians need to get their health insurance from them until..

the situation is resolved. Our small company, three people who have not used their insurance for anything major in the last 20 years had it's premiums go from $2400.00 a month to $3100.00 a month. That is insane. Make these politicians get off of their butts and find their own health care policy and then we will talk. Until then, well we are just wasting our time.

[Desertrose]

5. We need health "care" - not a private health insurance "industry".

They provide great benefits for CEO's & great profits for the stockholders I imagine.

That's all I got right now.

[Little Star]

6. The health insurance industry adds no value to health care. k&r

[blindpig]

7. Does a dog need ticks? n/t

[kath]

8. They provide NOTHING of value. They're just a bunch of parasitic bloodsuckers,

who manage to suck about 35 cents out of every healthcare dollar.
It's WAY past time for them to go.

[kenny blankenship]

9. Like it needs live tapeworms added to all school lunches

and Giardia seeded into the water supply.

[Demoiselle]

10. Hell. No.

[sharesunited]

11. Let me see what a public plan covers and I'll let you know. (If Medicare is any indication.)

And who is accepting patients under it.

[vim876]

21. If we didn't have widespread private health insurance...

A lot more doctors would cover publicly insured patients.

[sharesunited]

24. And if we had full-boat publicly funded medical and nursing school scholarships

providers would be more like salaried staff throughout the system.

[FiveGoodMen]

12. Abso-fucking-lutely NOT!

[Lugnut]

13. They're useless parasites.

They add nothing of value to the process.

[Snarkoleptic]

14. For profit health insurance companies add no value to our healthcare system.

Try laying that statement on some baggers and republiclowns and watch them sputter to counter the point.

[Xenotime]

15. No. It's a failed practice.

[GiveMeFreedom]

16. Fuck NO! n/t

[eridani]

17. Only if it were regulated by the government the way utility boards

--regulate public utilities.

[TheKentuckian]

20. Please Dear Lord no! The utility boards are captured rubberstamps.

Utilities need to be nationalized or socialized at the state or local level like nobody's business.

[eridani]

27. Not everywhere. Tight regulation works well in France, Japan and the Netherlands

My husband had a root canal in Groeningen in 1996 for 100 guilders--or $25 American.

[TheKentuckian]

29. I'm talking in the USA. We are no closer to the models you mention than a NHS or Single Payer

and the reasons why are scary similar.

[eridani]

30. True dat. I was just pointing out that there are a number of ways

--to get to universal coverage and cost control, none of which were included in health care reform.

[area51]

18. Kick. n/t

[RegieRocker]

19. Extremely Loud HELL NO

[ncteechur]

22. Perhaps supplemental insurance. However, you're talking about a very entrenched industry that will

not go away quietly. And they have the money and lobbying support and SCOTUS to make their removal very difficult if not next to impossible.

[du_da]

23. I realize some people aren't going to like this but you have the question backwards.

You start at private and then have to justify the necessity of public because the later utilize resources shared resulting at least in part by threat of force.

The better wording might be: What demand does private insurance seek to fill and are they capable of doing so? If not, is this a service that can only be provided through public means? Then the important follow on questions are what demands within this scope are private insurance companies not seeking to meet and why? Can those demands be met by some other private entity or should those be met through public means.


How you word the question is important.


Oh, the more important question that people keep glossing over is what benefit does private insurance bring to the health care industry in the first place and is it or some similar mechanic be it private or public a necessity for providing that benefit?

[Klukie]

28. I don't think I have it backward

I think this is the way it ought to be framed. Currently we base the whole health care discussion under the assumption that the private insurance industry serves a necessary function in our need for health care. Why do we do that? Historically the private insurance companies did not play a prominent role in our health care and now society depends upon their insurance for care. Why has this happened and do we need their services? Does their profit margin get in the way of our needs?

[robinlynne]

25. no. and none.

[ElboRuum]

26. No and none.

Empirically proven in the top industrialized nations (and some that are not at the top) of the world.

But you know us Murcans. The day we have single-payer will be the day we switch to metric.

[Vinca]

31. No. They're paper shufflers and they don't provide medical care.

Their only purpose in the health care delivery system is to skim as much money they can off the top.

[Generic Other]

32. No

We need a revolution.