The Stakes... What Do the Health Insurers Really Want?

For practically thirty years, the boomer generation has invested in the health insurance industry. They believed in it, and contributed heavily to it. No other generation has been as devoted to health insurance. The boomers have been a cash cow to the health insurance industry since it went from not for profit to profit in the late seventies, early eighties. Even the advent of the HSA (Health Insurance Accounts) have added to the profit margin and stock value of the health insurance companies.

The reality today is that the boomers are moving from the safety of for profit, health insurance to the murky realm of Medicare. Who would blame them for being wary of the transition? The Republicans have all but applied a proverbial nuclear warhead to the program, gutting it of its vital essence to the extent that today it limps along attempting to meet the needs of an every increasing elder population that has become accustomed to a "service now" program of medical treatment. Medicare is so underfunded and understaffed that it cannot even defend itself from the near constant attacks on its integrity.  
However, if you dig deep and do the research, you will find that Medicare has a good deal of credibility despite its lack of funding. The AMA Health Insurers Report Card 2009 paints a remarkably positive picture of Medicare, including the area of reimbursement to medical providers. Reimbursement is an issue often thrown up by the industry as a blemish on Medicare.  


http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/368/2009-nhirc-long.pdf  

So what does all of this mean to the current health reform debate? If the boomers are transitioning to Medicare, then it stands to reason that the for profit insurance industry wants to follow the money. I believe that the end game in this battle will be the privatizing of Medicare. I am not certain at this point how they intend to reach that goal, but I have no doubt that they intend to do so. As the money from premiums slips away, insurance companies are shifting cost to whomever they can to cover lost profits. I believe they target first those who can best afford it, and easy access to consumer credit information provides them with that information. No rules exist to stop them. Once again, Congress needs to revisit the financial regulations that govern the intertwining of financial institutions. I doubt that insurance companies deny insurance based on credit ratings, but I suspect they set rates based on them.  


How does the pubic option interfere with the health insurers plans to privatize Medicare? Well, for one, it would give government a chance to prove that they can indeed compete with private, for profit health insurers. You see, private for profit health insurance has managed to insert themselves into Medicare over the past fifteen years. If anyone doubts this, look into current efforts by health insurers to extend benefits under Medicare plan B, and to increase the funding for Medicare supplemental insurance policies. As the Republicans cut funding to Medicare and hamstrung its ability to serve the over 65 population, private health insurers moved in to offer "supplemental programs" to elderly. Such programs would not have been necessary had Medicare been properly funded in the first. Republicans handed over business to health insurers by implementing the key strategy of "starve the beast."  


A public option run by the government would allow the government to circumvent the intricate web of counter regulation and under funding that has allowed private health insurers to dominate health care. Meanwhile, Congress will tighten up the regulations (HR 3200), and begin to impose stricter regulations on the private, for profit, health insurance industry.  

Keep a careful watch on all bills before Congress. Read them for content. Who do they benefit? If it doesn't say the citizen, it doesn't deserve our support. Read any of the finest legislation and you will be able to discern what separates bills "for, of and by the people" from those that support only the few.