Quote:
Originally Posted by Dockside
Not in the middle of a heated presidential election cycle it doesn't. Democrats deliberately sabotaged the American healthcare system and they need to be held accountable. Now they want the GOP to help and when the GOP says no Democrats will whine and scream through their buddies in the MSM that the whole mess is the Republicans fault.
The GOP better be ready.
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Healthcare insurers have been consolidating through mergers and acquisistions for 25 years. And with each merger/ acquisistion, premiums have skyrocketed because of reduced competition. They make business decisions to leave some Individual Plan Markets. When that happens, the state's have had to scramble. Some have chosen to subsidize insurers who stay the course. Other states have made remaining in the Individual Plan market a condition of being licensed to sell auto or property insurance.
All of this preceded the ACA by decades.
In the for profit, publicly- traded sector the big 5 remain.
1) United Healthcare
2)Anthem
3) Aetna
4) Humana
5) Cigna
Their primary objective is to increase shareholder value.
Fewer bigger players means they are in stronger positions to negotiate with healthcare providers. It also means they are in a stronger position to charge higher premiums because there's not much competition left. This stuff predates the ACA.
They have been engaging in round robbin talks for years that will eventually reshape the healthcare insurance marketplace into 3 big box insurers. This will require DoJ approval which is uncertain. So what's a for profit insurer to do? Well you announce you are going to exit Obamacare exchanges in several already lean markets.
The ACA is the first federal healthcare legislation that sought to regulate/ cap the profit of healthcare insurers.
How does that work in a for profit model where your primary motivation is increasing shareholder value?
So in the midst of all this, it's to the benefit of Big Box Insurers to let the general public and in many cases, elected Senators and House Members perceive it's all about big bad Obamacare.
Let's review. The cost of healthcare in the US is the highest in the world. Other systems achieve equal or better outcomes, despite doing so for less. Why is this?
US people are fatter and more vulnerable to disease, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Stroke, some Cancers and joint deterioration.
The US pays more for prescription meds because Congress declines to regulate wholesale and retail prices.
With the exception of NZ, the US is the only country that allows Big Pharma to advertise a pill for what ails you.
While most hospitals and Cancer Treatment systems are not for profit, none are precluded from profiting. Some have $ hundreds of millions in annual profits a year. They simply cannot use those profits to declare dividends for shareholders. Instead they use these profits to build their brands and either acquire or destroy the competition and acquire medical practices.
Most healthcare insurers are for profit, publicly- traded corporations.
The US pays more for medical equipment than other countries.
A Congress historically more willing to protect special interests than the interest of the people.
No worries. Trump promised on 60 Minutes to " replace Obamacare with something wonderful that will take care of everybody and the government will pay for it"'. Too bad there's no substance behind his promise.
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