Most times, the customer calls the shots.
Funny how with health insurance — one of the most expensive items for everyday Americans — we’re increasingly nervous whether the company will keep us.
That’s because health insurance companies have become so powerful that they can pick their customers. Only the low-risk need apply.
Last year, insurance companies pared 2.7 million customers from their rolls while increasing premiums for those left.
The result? Astronomical profits for which executives were handsomely rewarded. For 2009, H. Edward Hanway, CEO of Cigna Health Insurance, “earned” $30 million; Aetna’s Ronald Williams, $23 million (2007); MedCo Health’s David Snow, $21 million.
The nation’s five largest insurance companies posted a 56 percent gain in 2009 profits over 2008.
The future of the health insurance industry has become so rosy that Goldman Sachs, the New York investment bank, recently recommended two as plum investments. Cigna and the UnitedHealth Group were singled out for especially good returns.
In yet another push to reform health care, President Obama has called on a federal review and regulation of what insurance companies can charge.
In meeting with Obama last week, Sandy Praeger, Kansas Insurance Commissioner, expressed her reservations about coming down on the industry.
“What’s worse for the consumer,” she asked rhetorically, “having a premium increase or having to pay the full amount of a medical expense because the company is out of business?”
With all due respect, Ms. Praeger, your concern is misplaced. It’s the consumer who’s being put “out of business” by facing double-digit rate increases, year after year.
Tea Partiers, where’s your outrage of the extortion by these big businesses?
THE SELF-EMPLOYED Allen County farmer is especially hit hard by escalating health insurance prices. A farmer’s able body is as necessary to his livelihood as the rain.
Working around heavy equipment — animals and machinery — puts a farmer in one of the 10 most dangerous jobs in the U.S. The noble professional also equates with high premiums.
To compound his situation, the farmer pays for his insurance with after-tax dollars. Employer-sponsored health insurance, viewed as a necessary fringe benefit, does so with pre-tax dollars.
Nineteen percent of farm families are without health insurance compared to 15 percent of all Americans. Those that have policies usually shoulder high deductibles that don’t cover routine preventative care, raising the risk of a serious illness going undetected.
This year more than 20 million Americans are predicted to buy their own health insurance, according to a report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. Preexisting health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure and previous injuries, highly jeopardize an applicant’s acceptance. The guidelines to determine a preexisting condition are as porous as a sponge, including medical advice, care, treatment or diagnosis up to two years before purchasing coverage.
