Washblog

1. The Health Insurance Market - as a business enterprise market - is lucrative ... VERY lucrative.

2. The easiest path to lucrative profits is the denial route. It makes the most logical and common sense. If you're Dad or Mom ran a mom & pop-size insurance company in the neighborhood, profitability would be in collecting mucho premium and not having to spend mucho on claims.

3. While this sort of debate goes on and we can't seem to make up our political minds about health care problems we're currently being tempted not to force insurance companies out of the frivolous denials business.

   At the same time we, our families, our neighbors and our community perhaps are literally dying for lack of coverage that gets us through the doors of clinics and hospitals.

4. Insurers then by definition live in fear - not of frivolous lawsuits - but of being stuck with too large a share of sick customers in their own customer base.

5. We are forced into participating in a public policy wherein we have a discriminating benefit because of our income or our employer or whatever reason permits us to live covered by health insurance. Meanwhile, our neighbors - in this wonderful on-going pattern of living with a corporate capitalism that behaves badly in pursuit of profits - doesn't have insurance, can't afford to buy insurance, yet has to listen to TV insurance liars tell him

   "Too bad you can't afford insurance. Now vote against this referendum cause we want to protect you from ... from ... well, just in case anybody wants to sue us."

Health insurance companies are playing us in a lose-lose game, where we are the exploited and the exploiter together. They exploit our family responsibilities. I know that I couldn't live with myself, if I didn't provide my wife and daughter the insurance they need to get health care. But, having aided them (and me), I participate in the national Sophie's Choice.

How do I face my uninsured neighbors now?

Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Thanks for the talking points Eric. Dear Readers click on the link and read the whole article, especially if you think frivolous lawsuits might be the big problem.

And ... if you're seeking more of this sort of outraged entertainment, wait until the stories break describing the different frivolous reasons why casualty insurers can't pay for fire damaged homes you know where.

Insurance is all about risk. Communities of at-risk people willing to pool resources to protect each other.

These "communities of insureds" - under the current system - are asked to bear and share the greatest portion of risk. The insurance companies who have supposedly united these communities do not want to share and bear any of that risk

... no matter the caring, helpful and open-handed images and put-back-together houses their advertising implies.