Jim Tumbls.

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. For instance, could this happen to you?

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. Thankfully all the recent talk of death panels has really died down, but what no one really bothered to talk about is the existing death panels that are all around us. You know, the ones that many of us receive as a benefit of full-time employment, and also contribute to ourselves. Of course I’m talking about the current health insurance plan you may (or may not) already belong to.

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. As a private investor myself, I look for companies that will appreciate in value (stock price) or share their profits with me quarterly in the form of dividends.

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. OK… this seems obvious to me, but I’ve been learning lately that what’s obvious to me is not obvious to others, and <gasp> sometimes not even right. I think, though, I might be on to something with this concept. Especially since I am both an investor and a consumer of health coverage. (Whoa - conflict of interest?)

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. As an investor, I want my companies to return a decent profit. I want them to have low expenses, good return on assets, low costs, appropriate amounts of debt, and (I can’t stress this enough) low expenses, low costs, AND NOT SPENDING LOTS OF MONEY!

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. As a consumer of medical and health benefits, I want it all. OK, that’s not necessarily required or realistic, but I still want service. Getting back to the original link, and the potential ‘required’ service, it could become very expensive. Herein lies the conflict of interest.

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry! A for-profit company, like every one I’ve ever worked for, is responsible to the owners / shareholders. Only. That’s it. Many companies will say their customers are #1, or employees are the soul of the company. In my short career life thus far I’ve heard quite a few ideas in this nature, but when the end of the fiscal year comes around, it’s the owners or shareholders who the company answers to. Big profit means happy shareholders. No profit (or loss) means unhappy shareholders. Now in banking, or even technology or manufacturing, good products can be made at low costs or even reasonable financial products offered at good prices. When it comes to health care, as a for-profit business, there will naturally be those highly profitable people such as myself who pay (privately or through their employers) thousands each year and don’t collect a dime of service. Then there are others who will pay thousands for this service but perhaps require a million dollars in coverage. It’s natural (for a for-profit business) to want to eliminate this expense from their books.

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. If our collective goal as “the greatest nation on earth” is to have a healthy, productive population then we all need to have the health care we need. Whatever the cost. If we all pay into the same bucket, and the provider is not looking to cut costs and expenses (as shareholders such as myself would demand) we all can share in the collective good as needed. Just like our military, highways, public education system, police force, fire protection, and many more services.

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. As long as my health care, and that of my friends, family, and fellow countrymen is affecting the bottom line of Goliath National Health Insurance Company, we are not truly getting the service we need. If you, your brother, mother, grandfather, friend, or neighbor is unhealthy (and perhaps excessively so) GNHIC does not want to pay for your health care because it is too expensive. It affects their bottom line, costs their shareholders money, and lowers the salaries and bonuses of their employees.

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. Ideally, health insurance companies looking to make a buck from denying service to me should be put out of business. At a minimum, we all should have an option to take advantage of a non-profit group that will provide medical care to college students, children, old people, workers, unemployed people, and anyone else who may be interested in using this service. I support the public option.

Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry. As another blog post relates, it’s not the insurance companies that are evil. They’re doing their duty to the shareholders. The real evil is with the system that allows our health care companies to operate to create a profit. If we’re going to seriously reform our health care system, let’s remove the 20% plus profit each of these companies is seeking.