12-04-2015, 08:08 PM
(12-04-2015, 07:58 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Why do you think this? You do realize average margins for health insurance companies is only in the neighborhood of 5%? Healthcare care costs are not being driven by insurance, which is why the alleged savings of Obamacare was always a fraudulent case.
Pricing for drugs, doctors and hospitalization is all whacked out. Insurance companies only pay like 10-20% of that price, which is why we need insurance. That's really the point StLucie is making because it doesn't operate like a free market.
Supposedly cash payers can negotiate pricing, but I don't know how anyone does that after the fact coming in to the emergency room for chest pains or a broken leg. Unless you're worth $10M+, it only takes one fairly serious incident (or medication) in your lifetime to wipe out whatever you saved being uninsured.
What's 5% of a billion dollars? A shit load. That's the BS the insurance tell you, we only make a pitiful 4% profit. They aren't hurting for money. There are not-for-profit insurance companies sitting on piles of money which far exceed their liability if all their customers turned in a claim simultaneously. Insurance companies aren't the sole reason for increased costs, but they are a significant reason. Pharmaceutical companies are responsible for serious price gouging in the US for the same medications which sell for significantly less in other countries. A capitalism model you defend. All of this is capitalism. You can't defend capitalism on one hand then complain about the cost of capitalism.
