Can't afford to get sick

Bend over, Buster. The here come the health care insurers again. In the May 13th issue of The New York Times, columnist Reed Abelson notes how the largest insurers in the US are enjoying record profits for the simple reason that people are not making claims. Simply, people are not going to the doctor like they have in the past. People are still getting sick. People still have health issues. The problem is, insurance premiums have gotten so pricey that folks are seeking policies that carry higher and higher deductibles. In order to pay the monthly insurance bill, people are now buying policies that have deductibles of $4,000 or more per year. A guy is on the hook for his first $4,000 of medical expenses before the insurance kicks in. So what happens? People continue to pay their outrageous insurance premiums, but they never get to the point where the insurance company pays. Growing revenue vs. lower payouts equals record profits.

I researched the stock prices of the three giant insurers that Abelson referenced in his article: Cigna, Aetna and United Health Group. I had no doubt what I would find. Record profits can only correspond to high stock prices. Sure enough, from their record lows last July, these stocks have taken off. Cigna was $29 per share last July, $48 now. Aetna was $26. Now it’s $ 44. United Health Group went from $28 to $50. Not a bad return for 11 months. Wish I’d bought some, except these profits and surging stock prices have come at a cost to Americans. What a business plan! Raise premiums so high that customers will opt for a policy that they will likely not use because it’s too expensive to use it. Huh? Speaking of raising rates, in Oregon, according to Abelson, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield plan a rate increase of 22% for individuals.. No matter how bad the premiums get, we pay them. We’re afraid not to. What a perfect business model.

Of course, so many of us had so much hope that President Obama and the Democrats who controlled both houses would somehow, some way, come to the rescue and blow up a game designed for American consumers to lose. The result of their work: reform that isn’t reform. A health care system that enriches the already rich insurance companies and does nothing, absolutely nothing, to lower monthly premiums. Obama and the Dems were a major disappointment in regard to health care reform. A disappointment to everyone except for the shareholders of these companies and the executives who run them.