What a bunch of suckers we are! We take it and like it, grin and bear it, smile and say, “Thank you.” Some of us even dress up in ridiculous 18th century costumes to bow down before our masters at Blue Cross, or tape tea bags to our foreheads as a part of a perverse sacrificial rite in which we offer up our loved ones to appease the gods of Cigna or Aetna.
Okay, I don’t want to get too carried away with all of this, but it’s an indisputable fact that this health insurance stuff has gotten out of hand. Way out of hand!
Have you been sitting on the fence during the health care reform debate? Have you been attracted to the idea that a free market answer to our health insurance problems is the best answer? Think so? Here’s an example of the free market in action.
If you live in California, or any one of more than two dozen other states where the company operates, you’re probably familiar with WellPoint/Anthem. It’s a big outfit that plays in the health insurance major leagues and is the largest “for profit” insurer in California. It operates under the Blue Cross/Blue Shield banner in 15 other states as well, and is ever hard at work gobbling up premiums and finding innovative ways to deny claims.
Let me tell you just how well the company is doing. In the last quarter WellPoint/Anthem posted profits of $2.8 BILLION. Now, understand. That’s not gross revenue. That’s $2.8 billion in profit!
Pretty good, right? Well, evidently it’s not good enough for WellPoint/Anthem. The company wants more. A lot more. It has announced a 39% premium increase for thousands of Californians with individual policies. You read it right—a 39% premium increase!
Three cheers for the free market. It’s working just great for WellPoint/Anthem. It sucks for Californians.
Every time WellPoint/Anthem denies a claim for coverage, the company’s profit totals rise. Every time a Californian with an individual policy dies, that’s one less source of claims exposure for the company. That’s how the free market works. More for them, less for you.
Hip, Hip Hooray for the Free Market Way! What a bunch of suckers we are.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I have received an email from MoveOn.org requesting that I sign a petition to Anthem Blue Cross urging them to reconsider their extraordinary rate increase/profit margin. Naturally I signed the petition (for a second time). The email also stated that Anthem has agreed to a 2 month delay in the rate increases. MoveOn.org believes that the 2 month delay is due to the large response of people signing the original petition to ABC. Perhaps your readers might be interested in the MoveOn.org website and the opportunity to actually take action through the petition?
Thanks, Beverly. The petition is located online at:
http://pol.moveon.org/bluecross/