Health Insurers Bilked Patients Of Billions Of Dollars, According To Senate Report

Washington Post:

Health insurers have forced consumers to pay billions of dollars in medical bills that the insurers themselves should have paid, according to a report released yesterday by the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[nomorefed]

ppl dying on the streets ..no heathcare.­.no life liberty and happiness

he's right: http://makeitbrief.com/avupq why aren't our voices being heard by Washington?

[Sundialsvc4]

Well, if they are going to die, then they had better do it, and help rid the world of its surplus population ...

[loki]

And they are using it to pay off congress, and maybe even the president to end public health care.
Simple , they are rich, they will get their way. Its the way our government works

[TJCole]

Bernie Sanders today was great on C-span in the mark ups of the bill and so was Tom Harkin...

Bernie went over all the billions and billions these criminals from the corrupt insurance companies to corrupt criminal pharmaceutical companies have stolen and cheated and that's only what they caught over...

If we had Single Payer then they couldn't get away with so much of it, as it would set off bells and whistles all over the place..

Single Payer is the only way to reduce the cost of Health Care..!

Those who are against it are the bad guys just as with our fiscal meltdown the swindlers.­..!

[Lyr]

http://www.kaiserpapershawaii.org/kaiserpermanentehistory.htm

Ehrlichman: "Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason that he can … the reason he can do it … I had Edgar Kaiser come in … talk to me about this and I went into it in some depth. All the incentives are toward less medical care, because …"


Ehrlichman: "… the less care they give them, the more money they make."

President Nixon: "Fine." [Unclear.]

Ehrlichman: [Unclear] "… and the incentives run the right way."

President Nixon: "Not bad."

If denying health care to increase profits is news to you, you have been living under a rock.

[Lyr]

How about a little admission of fault dear senators? http://www.truthout.org/article/kip-sullivan-unions-should-break-with-managed-care

[Grannysue]

After 30+ years working in the business end of healtcare I can tell you the guy is correct. I have to help people every day explain their explanation of benefits, and some bring in their benefits books so upset because they thought they were covered until they got the ER bill! It's truly sad what the insurance companies have done to the American public, and they don't give a dam either. It's all about the DOLLAR.

[getsit]

The health insurance companies have been getting away with these tactics and it looks like, because of Congress, will continue to get away with not providing. I am feeling so discouraged. Anyone who has not seen Michael Moore's movie "SICKO" should. Every incident of insurance denials of service, canceling of policies, etc in the movie I had already seen from EOBs from families I have worked with.

One family, whose son had a accident resulting in major head trauma, got all their claims denied by "BS" insurance for the brain surgeons who consulted and operated on him. This was a major emergency. Apparently all of the brain surgeons in their county were not member providers with "BS". This resulted in over $35000 worth of charges showing on the insurance explanation of benefits as the family's "responsiblity to pay". I advised them to appeal, as they did not have a choice in providers and was major emergency that would result in death. I'm waiting to hear if "BS" pays these services.

And please be aware, that anytime insurance does not pay the family ends up going to collections, having to apply to Medicaid if they are eligible (government ends up covering), goes bankrupt, or tries to pay and ends up being hounded forevermore by collections agencies.

[judesuper]

I have a quick and easy solution for paying for universal health care coverage. Tax the lobbyists dollar for dollar. Every dollar that they pay to prohibit public health care. Tax them at 100%. That should cover it.

[Mark701]

The more I read about health insurers the more I think of them as thugs and crooks that could put the Mafia to shame.

What's sad is that it was predicted this kind of crap would happen. ANYTIME a corporation has to choose between their stockholder profits or the people they are supposed to provide a service to, they choose the stockholders. This is the American capitalist system at it's ugliest, and unless Obama provides folks with a public option for insurance, it will NEVER change. A public option would provide the first real competition this corporate pigs would face and the first time they would be forced to compete in a market where the playing field between them and the consumer was leveled---and they can't stand it.

[layman]

Only in Aneruca, out right wrong being done to the people is beautiful. The outright right is to be slamed and demonized. The whole congress should be eliminated and wiped out from the face of the earth, It's a disfunctional entity in government, wasting people's time and money. As the world turns, it's in the way of progress, fostering bribery and corruption.

[julia23]

I think its unethical and un Christian to make money on other people's illness. Its ok to be compensated for your work (i.e. doctors and nurses), but shareholders should not be getting rich on other people's misfortune and ill health.

Jesus, Buddha, and the flying spaghetti monster would not approve.

[jmpurser]

Personally I think the "ethical" argument regarding profits is irrelevant. I don't care if it's ethical or not. I care that our current system DOES NOT WORK. I think it's clearly unethical that a nation as rich as ours doesn't provide health care for all it's citizens but that's not the argument I'd make to persuade the public. No law says you need to share my ethics is there? But our NATION clearly NEEDS health care for all. We're going broke without it. Our current system, ethical or not, simply doesn't provide what our nation needs. So either the nation has to die or we have to change systems.

You choose.

[nomorefed]

this is horrible..­.we need to shake down wallstreet and reform heathcare. Obama does neither.

hat tip to http://www.makeitbrief.com/avupq for the good articles

*****

[jmpurser]

President Obama is much to oriented towards maintaining the status quo and propping up the wealthy for my taste.

[Chandidevi]

Healthcare insurance companies are unethical. Thei primary concern is money...FO­R THEMSELVES, FOR THE UPPER ECHELON. How can they let people die because of money? Sometimes I wonder if there really is a God.

[plumnelly]

A single payer is the only way to have true democracy for the american people. Take wall street out of healthcare, the insurance companies. The insurance companies will continue to boost their executive salaries, think citibank, while denying people coverage or procedures advocated by their doctors. Right now, the insurance companies have had a scamming policy. So why would we trust these immoral and unethical people If you lose your job, you lose coverage. Whom do you trust, the insurance companies, who have protected and padded their salaries, while denying coverage, or single payer healthcare ,where you're always covered. It's a no brainer! To pay for a single payer, bring back the Bush tax cuts and tax people making more than $250,000 like they were under Clinton and prior years. I would be willing to pay a national sales tax on everything because, right now ,we're paying rising premiums and could go bankrupt, if a job is lost and Cobra isn't really an affordable option. The Canadians never have to worry if they have cancer or some other debilitating disease and lose their jobs. They care about their citizens. What has happened to us, when we let the insurance industry speak for our well being and they have failed miserably, and more cases than not, let people die while giving bonuses to their execs. My Canadian friends live without the fear of no healthcare, Americans can't say the same.

[jmpurser]

Well said. Here's a link to a site with information about single payer:
http://www.pnhp.org/blog/2009/06/15/hold-out-for-single-payer/

Here's a link to Independent Senator Bernie Sanders' petition for Single Payer:
http://sanders.senate.gov/petitions/index.cfm?uid=7fd59f2e-88e1-477a-8eaf-762a5b050809

Sorry about the video.

Linking health care to employment makes about as much sense as linking driver's licenses to shoe size.

[julia23]

It seemed like such a good idea during WWII when they couldn't raise wages to attract employees, so they offered 'benefits', including health care.

Lack of foresight.

[Chandidevi]

Thank you for your well-informed commets about insurance companies. They are allowing people to die for money, right in front of our eyes. Obama has to take a stronger stance against them.