now its the insurance companies
 

o is out bashing them today, seems like just yesterday he was bashing wall st. Im starting to think that all people who work are bad. If only the government would take everything over, banks, car companies, insurance companies, all would be much better.
I also think the flag is getting a little out dated, how about a red one with a yellow star on it, simple, no?

Insurance Companies need plenty of Bashing :fury:

they are Lying- back stabbing -thieves:smash:
(most of the time...but not always)

and are never or rarely held accountable

they are ABOVE the law

so, then there must be a huge opportunity for competition, no? Obama is saying they all are raising rates, you're disatisfied with their service, sounds like a great market to enter! Look at the BIZZILIONS pumped into dot.coms by venture capital in the 90s. There was a compelling business justification. Why not health insurance? Surely some of the brilliant investors in the US can pull together loads of cash and offer low cost insurance? Great customer service? Right?
Wrong!! its a pyramid scheme that barely squeaks by! Only the government would make such a dumb investment and it looks like they will!

RIJ is right, th eway you get the insurance companies under control is to allow them to compete across state lines and open up COMPETITION at worst service will stay where it is and rates will go down.

Need an example???? Look at your phonebill, since MA Bell got broken up prices have come down considerably, I remember paying $1.00/minute from Boston to Providence in the 80's...

The difference is that there are very little differences is providing the service in terms of your costs compared to location. A phone call in MA shouldn't be that much different that one in Okl.

With insurance, the costs depend greatly on where the service is provided. Do you think an insurance company is going to let someone living in NY buy insurance at Okl. rates or are they going to charge the NY rates to the Okl. residents?

Anyone ever notice that the tallest building in many American cities is owned by a insurance company?

i agree fishpart
 

this country was founded on free enterprise

That has more to do with the technology becoming a commodity than anything else...

-spence

Why are the rates different? I'm convinced the reason they are is because companies now have the ability to screw the state of their choosing without fear of cross-stateline compitition.

Why does a not for profit company the BCBS of MA pay their CEO millions of dollars a year to manage a not for profit organization?

Not for profit? I pay over 200 a week with a 2k deductible if I'm Hospitalized. They're not making money? Really?

The luxuries of working for a not-for-profit - I deal with them (different not-for-profits) on almost a weekly basis. They all act like they don't have two pennies to rub together.

When you increase competition, people come up with innovative ways to cut costs.....

With only 2 carriers in RI, you can't tell me they don't wink wink "manage" the pricing and delivery........

Next step is capping what you can get out of a frivilous lawsuit...

Bingo!

Some OB/GYN doctors pay over $100k or more for their malpractice.

This article is a bit dated, but it demonstrates the ridiculousness of that situation.

My wife's head of ob/gyn at Mt Auburn was payin 200K in 97

Precisely. As I'm sure you know, but many don't... Obstetrics doctors are liable to be sued until the 18th birthday of a child they deliver. There is no statute of limitations for OBs and a parent can sue the OB if they believe any possible error during deliver or even bad advice *could* have been the cause of any disability.

It's pathetic. It's no wonder no one wants to become a doctor any more.

health insurance companies don't want to do business in RI....over 1000 state mandates regarding coverage...that's why it's so expensive...creeps at the state house tell you what you MUST cover and then demand paola on top of that.....hardly worth the effort for a company to come in and set up shop....if you want to know where your jobs and options and freedoms are going...they're being run out of town by these elected maniacs that mandate, legislate and tax "everything that moves and everything that doesn't"...

Sounds like business as usual in RI. No wonder every business is hitching a ride out of town and the state has one of the worst unemployment rates.

Ask Joe Kennedy

Higher costs associated with higher medical and drug claims. The cost of a procedures/services (which has nothing to do with the ins. co.) can much different in different locations. If there is no competition in an area (think Alaska or Wy for example) the bills could be much higher than somewhere where there is comp. and the insurance co. can negotiate better discounts.

It's not that hard for big insurance companies to get approved in muliple states if they want.

Don't forget that most of an insurance co. costs are claims. Sure they have exp. and profit, but the vast majority are claims (75%???). If you look at a bill, an insurance co. takes what the Dr. charges and applies a negotiated disc. to the charge. Those disc. can be as high as 60% of the Drs/hosp. charge. W/o an insurance co., the Drs. bill would be like 2x as high.

B/c is still needs to be managed the same as a for profit company of the same size. If you want good people to run a not for profit, you have to pay them comparable salaries. The people who work there aren't doing it out of generosity, but b/c they need a job.

Or any other highly successful not-for-profit. They all have the same charade.

because if you didnt, you get some hack greenpeace wannabe with a liberal arts degree being the only one who would take the job at a lesser salary

and I had 2 children, out of pocket expenses - zero
2 parents fighting cancer, out of pocket expenses - zero

thats the basis for INSURANCE.

Yea, especially during a struggling economy...

Perhaps you're forgetting about the fat cat old boys network when the execs all sit on each others boards and discuss just how big a golden parachute is really necessary to attract that "top" talent.

-spence

By serving several states you can eliminate the need to have an entire corporate structure in every state further reducing cost, now you only need one highly overpaid CEO instead of 50 for example....

you really don't. For a company like an Aetna you don't have underwriters or claim payers or customer service in each state.

Joe make 2-3 hundred thou for his efforts. I wouldn't say that was out of line.

much more than that...

old article when he was being sued from the girl he injured as a lad..
skip thru most of it.. but the last part is interesting...



From The Boston Herald Aug 31, 2005

Paralyzed victim of Joe K crash: Skinflint won't help
By Laurel J. Sweet and Maggie Mulvihill
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - Updated: 07:42 AM EST

Joseph P. Kennedy II, who built upon his family fortune with a lucrative career of his own since leaving politics, allegedly told a Hyannis mother he left paralyzed for life in a car crash 32 years ago that he is ``broke'' and won't be her financial crutch any longer.

``I'm broke. I work for a non-profit. I'm not a bottomless pit,'' the chairman of Citizens Energy Corp. and former congressman allegedly told Pamela Burkley, whom he knew in their star-crossed youth on Cape Cod as Pam Kelley – his late brother David's girlfriend.

Kennedy denies through his lawyer that he made the remarks.

Though she acknowledges Kennedy, 52, has thrown some $50,000 her way over the years, Burkley, 50, told the Herald, ``I feel like he thinks I'm a piece of trash sitting in a wheelchair.''

The divorced mother of a 16-year-old girl said she earns $57,000 a year as executive director of the Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled and suffers from recurring bladder cancer. ``I'm realizing my body is starting to give out on me,'' she said.

``I just want to live my life and plant my plants, play with my dogs and watch my daughter grow up. As I age, I'm getting nervous and less independent. And I'm tired.''

Steve Kidder, a friend and attorney for Kennedy, said Burkley's portrayal of slain U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy's son as cold and uncaring is wrong.

``The quote that she is attributing to Joe simply did not happen,'' Kidder responded emphatically.

In a statement released to the Herald through Kidder, Kennedy said, ``I have a very strong sense of responsibility for Pam and her circumstances. I have helped Pam many, many times over the years, and Pam knows I will continue to do so in the future.''

Burkley netted $668,000 from an insurance policy on the Jeep Kennedy flipped Aug. 13, 1973, snapping her spine and injuring five other teens heading to a Nantucket swimming hole.

The middle-class daughter of a builder and a real estate agent told a reporter at the time: ``There's no way I'd be able to spend that money if I lived to be 102.'' She decided not to sue.

But just eight years later, her trust fund was gone, invested in a house, medical expenses and land in Kezar Falls, Maine.

Kennedy was found guilty of driving to endanger and fined $100. A fawning judge told him, ``Use your illustrious name as an asset to do a lot of good.''

In the years since, Burkley struggled with depression, thoughts of suicide, and battled drugs and booze.

``Once I got sober,'' she said, ``I just flew. And I'm so proud of that and what I've done for myself, my community and my family. That's what I've spent the last 32 years doing and I don't see him owning any of this.''

Kennedy, meanwhile, has continued to live well.

Kennedy is the owner of nearly $2 million in real estate, including a rambling six-bedroom colonial in Brighton assessed this year by city officials at $741,600. In April 2003 he also took out a $1 million loan to purchase a 1,800-square-foot condo in an exclusive waterfront gated community in Key Largo, Fla., for which he and his wife, his former congressional aide Beth Kelly, paid $1.275 million, public records show

In addition, Kennedy owns two boats – a top-of-the-line, 35-foot fishing vessel he moors in Florida, and a 22-foot white sloop he keeps on Cape Cod, records show.

Entities related to his Citizens Energy Corp. paid him more than $400,000 in 2003, the last year for which records are available

wonder how much it is now...7 years later