Health Insurance

U.S HEALTH INSURANCE
U.S. health insurance mandate gains support Posted by News at 1:48 AM Support grew on Friday for insurance industry demands that all Americans be required to obtain coverage as part of a planned healthcare system overhaul, with a senior Senate Democrat and a coalition of business and consumer groups promoting the idea. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat who is helping write healthcare legislation, said an insurance requirement, or mandate, would help the market function better and reduce premium costs for everyone.Baucus argued that the cost of medical care for people with no insurance is being shifted to those with insurance, forcing costs higher."An individual obligation to get health coverage is essential," Baucus said in a speech to the Center for American Progress think tank.Meanwhile, an influential coalition of hospital, nurses, doctors, business, consumer and insurance groups said on Friday its members had agreed on a set of reform ideas including a mandate that all Americans obtain health insurance.The coalition, called the Health Reform Dialogue, also backed the idea of federal subsidies to help people pay for medical coverage.The coalition includes groups such at the AARP, which represents older Americans, the American Hospital Association, America's Health Insurance Plans industry group, the healthcare advocacy group Families USA, the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.MANY AMERICANS GO UNINSUREDThere currently is no requirement that Americans have health insurance, and many do not. The government says about 46 million people went without any public or private coverage in 2007, the last year for which figures were available.President Barack Obama has called a healthcare system overhaul one of his leading priorities for this year.The support of this coalition and Baucus make it more likely that any healthcare legislation will embrace an insurance mandate despite concern in both parties about imposing it on people who may be unable to afford it.Baucus did not spell out how his idea for a mandate would work, but it could be imposed on individuals, or employers could be required to provide coverage to workers, or a combination of both.Insurance industry representatives told a Senate hearing this week that they needed a mandate to keep premiums affordable if they were going to end the current practice of charging higher premiums for the sick and excluding pre-existing medical conditions from coverage.Obama also may be softening his stance against a mandate, telling a White House question-and-answer session on Thursday that the issue will be "part of the debate."During his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, Obama argued against a mandate, while his rival for the nomination, Hillary Clinton, who is now his secretary of state, backed it.

I don't understand the logic of "insurance companies aren't held accountable for their initial agreements" therefore, we should have government run insurance. Reform the laws to hold the companies accountable - don't just give it away to government. You want accountability? Go to the DMV or go through the court system to see how accountable the government is.
ADollarSaved (2 months ago) Show Hide +1 Marked as spam Reply Actually, Obama's plan gives you a choice. You can choose a public health insurance plan like Medicare, or you can choose a private insurer's plan. And they ALL have to play by the SAME rulesnot cherrypick who they'll cover or exclude by pre-existing conditions or changing your coverage out of the blue. If the private insurers truly are competitive & interested in providing health coveragerather than reaping windfall profitsthey shouldn't have any problem. Right?
paulp1021 (4 months ago) Show Hide 0 Marked as spam Reply Jesus Fuckin Christ! We need to incarcerate the CEO's of these Goddam Private Health Insurance Companies such as Aetna, etc. What these guys get away is absolutely criminal. I don't know what it's going to take for America to realize that we essentially need a single payer healthcare system in this country.
kgbduckii (4 months ago) Show Hide -1 Marked as spam Reply With luck these thieves will be forced to get real jobs within a year of Obama's inaguration. Suck it down bitches!
JohnnyRock2000 (5 months ago) Show Hide 0 Marked as spam Reply hiiamrick.
I know. Insurance companies focus on people that try to defraud them. It happens. But insurance companies label them and then sub-consciously apply the label to many claimants and especially long term disability claimants. Insurance co's look at long term disability as fraud in 45% of the cases. They work to deny 45% of claims. It starts with that attitude and allows them to guiltlessly defraud many of their clients.
Gloriapower (6 months ago) Show Hide -1 Marked as spam Reply The last time I had insurance the claims adjusers had Sarah Palin accents and nothing was payable. It was a PPO with $5,000 deductable. You had to use a network doctor. None of the doctors took new patients. The CEO of the company is one of the highest paid in the country. My friends in France go the doctor when they want for a tiny co-pay. The care is excellent.