The following is a statement just made here on YA. Can anyone make any sense out of this comment? The insurance companies simply pass on costs to consumers.
"Everyone will have access to affordable health care insurance regardless of any preexisting condition. This will take the burden of the uninsured off the tax payer and place it on the insurance companies who have been raping the people for years."
Where do people learn to think like this?
Insurers can drop people with pre-existing conditions or deny coverage altogether for people to are unwell. So insurance companies do not have any ill effects right now from the uninsured. These sick people end up going to the emergency room when their health conditions reach a critical point (something that would not happen had they had access to decent primary care). The cost of that hospital visit is passed on to all taxpayers in higher direct care costs. The insurance cos. sure get their money though. You might as well think about the money going directly from your pocket to the ins co profits.
With the health reform plan currently before congress, the insurance companies will no longer get away with only covering the healthy. The government will force the insurance companies to insure people with pre-existing conditions by regulation.
We have regulations on all kinds of businesses offering services/products. These regulations are there to insure the health and safety of our citizens (you don’t worry that your toothpaste or eye drops are toxic). Since there is a direct correlation between health care payment methodology and the quality of care a patient receives, health insurance companies should be held to the same regulatory standard.