Health Care Insurance, Inc.

Let's skip a torrent of detail and go to the heart of the matter. The health care insurance for-profit companies exist to earn as much profit as they can for their executives and stockholders. Normally, if you are ideologically in favor of entrepreneurial, free market capitalism you would consider this to be a normal and correct activity but there are several giant problems in this situation.

1) The companies earn their money by rejecting applicants for coverage who seem to be poor risks. These people remain uninsured. They also refuse payment for legitimate medical treatments whenever they can legally do so, mostly on the grounds of preexisting conditions or because the recommended treatments are "experimental." They also raise premiums and co-pays for all the traffic can bear. A consequence of this is that large numbers of Americans are dying for lack of treatment or going into bankruptcy for lack of the money to pay for it.

2) A lot of money that could be spent on health care is diverted into overhead costs and profits.

3) Doctors and their assistants spend time that could be used to treat patients in dealing with the insurance companies.

4) Some of the companies' cash flow is utilized in massive lobbying because their profitability is highly dependent upon legislation, particularly, legislation that enables them to avoid competition. The companies have a huge stake in avoiding competition, either with each other or with a governmental entity. This intense lobbying has a very corrosive effect upon the integrity of government.

When the insurance companies win, you lose.