He Doesn't Get It

On purpose, of course.  What is it this time?  Here's Mitt Romney talking about health insurance:

"I want people to be able to own insurance if they wish to, and to buy it for themselves and perhaps keep it for the rest of their life and to choose among different policies offered from companies across the nation. I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep people healthy. It also means if you don’t like what they do, you can fire them."

Very nice, Mitt.  Except for the fact that this is exactly what we have right now, and it doesn't work. 62% of all personal bankruptcies in the country are caused by medical expenses, and three quarters of those people had health insurance when their medical costs bankrupted them.  And without preexisting condition coverage, when you "fire" your insurance company, no one else will touch you.  In fact, without the Federal government threatening all of these companies with extinction, we will never be anything but helpless victims to them.

Better yet would be to make Medicare available to everyone, and not just threaten these companies with extinction, but put an end to their 33% overheads, their massive staffs devoted to denying coverage, their executives making tens of millions a year, and all the rest of it.

Comments

Jerry Critter said…
YES! Let everyone have (and pay for) Medicare. And let private insurance companies provide supplemental insurance for those that want more converge. Aso, if private insurance companies can compete with Medicare, let them. Nothing is stopping them from providing the same coverage as Medicare. Only their own inefficiencies stop them.

Popular posts from this blog

It's Okay, Never Mind

Wingnuts Slightly Annoyed about that $83 Million

If a Tree Falls In the Woods