Is the health insurance business a racket? Yes, literally. And this is why the shameless pandering to robber baron corporations posing as “health providers” is such an egregious … and obvious … tactic to do nothing more than plump up insurance company profits.
And do you know who’s to blame? Believe it or not, the downfall of the American health insurance system falls squarely on the shoulders of former President Richard M. Nixon.
In 1973, Nixon did a personal favor for his friend and campaign financier, Edgar Kaiser, then president and chairman of Kaiser-Permanente. Nixon signed into law, the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, in which medical insurance agencies, hospitals, clinics and even doctors, could begin functioning as for-profit business entities instead of the service organizations they were intended to be. And which insurance company got the first taste of federal subsidies to implement HMOA73 … *gasp* … why, it was Kaiser-Permanente! What are the odds? It’s all right here to read for yourself.
And to perfectly cement HMOA73 as the profiteering boondoggle that it actually was, the law Nixon mandated also included clauses that encouraged medical providers to not CURE afflictions, but to PROLONG them by only treating the symptoms. There’s no money to be made in CURING sickness. But the sky’s the limit when it comes to forcing people to endure repetitive doctor visits, endless (and often useless and redundant) tests, and … of course … let’s not forget the ever-increasing demand for American-made prescription drugs!
Have you noticed recently that the words “prolonged coma” and DEATH have wormed their way into the fast-spoken side-effects list of just about every new drug you see on television or hear on the radio? Death! From the medicine that’s supposed to cure you! You know what? I’ll take restless legs over DEATH.
So it’s an arms race between insurers, who deploy software and manpower trying to find claims they can reject, and doctors and hospitals, who deploy their own forces in an effort to outsmart or challenge the insurers. And the cost of this arms race ends up being borne by the public, in the form of higher health care prices and higher insurance premiums. Of course, rejecting claims is a clumsy way to deny coverage. The best way for an insurer to avoid paying medical bills is to avoid selling insurance to people who really need it. An insurance company can accomplish this in two ways, through marketing that targets the healthy, and through underwriting: Rejecting the sick or charging them higher premiums. See the pattern?
https://thecriticalaye.com/2011/08/31/skyrocketing-health-care-costs-thanks-president-nixon/
Another sweet sweet moment in history.
Greed has NEVER played a part in it. Oh, wait…
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/health/drugmakers-lawsuit-insulin-drugs.html
http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/18/news/drug-pricing-mallinckrodt-ftc-fine/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34320413
I’m certain it was a completely necessary to raise prices on a 65 year old drug, suddenly, by over 1000%.
h/t TwoDimesMove
“And to perfectly cement HMOA73 as the profiteering boondoggle that it actually was, the law Nixon mandated also included clauses that encouraged medical providers to not CURE afflictions, but to PROLONG them by only treating the symptoms.”
Are you freakin’ KIDDING??? DESPICABLE SCUM!!!
“There’s no money to be made in CURING sickness.”
That I’ve always known.
Mary, thank you for posting this, this article is exactly what my state insurance person told me on the phone 20 years ago, Its an ass raping business period, no politician today will even talk about this, sad days we live in!!!
Thank you. I have felt that for-profit healthcare is an oxymoron for a long time. How many countries do not allow pharmaceutical advertising to the public? It’s a lot, i can tell you that, hugely.
My Grandpa was way ahead of his time. He used to jokingly murmur,
“Nixon’ll Fix’em”
It turns out Nixon did more harm to America than most realize.
However, it really isn’t the president who does the damage. It’s those jews and CFR members he was told to surround himself with. (just like the Trump regime) They conspire, to write legislation that conforms to their best interest, order the blackmailed Congress to pass the bill, then order the president to sign it.
It’s my view also that the healthcare problem has nothing to do with people being “insured” that’s a smokescreen so we don’t see the SCAM that we call Healthcare. $750 for a 5 minute Referral office call? B.S.