🚀 go-pugleaf

In <4155@master.CNA.TEK.COM> mikeq@freddy.CNA.TEK.COM (Mike Quigley) writes:

:In article <2440@shaman.wv.tek.com> alanj@endeavor18.tek.com (Alan Jeddeloh) writes:
:>
:>I might point out that the overhead in the Medicaid program is currently
:>estimated at 4%.  The overhead for private insurance averages 7%.  I recall
:>the figures from Time magazine.

:According to figures I got from St. Charles hospital in Bend, and
:verified by a friend who is a claims adjuster in Portland, private
:insurance overhead runs anywhere from 25% to 40%! Yikes! No wonder
:they fight to preserve the status quo. They're cutting a fat hog
:at our expense!

This is all a bogus argument, because ALL expenses of an
insurance company except for the money paid to providers, and
sales commissions is overhead.

One problem is that our medial ``insurance'' has evolved so that
it isn't insurance at all, but a method to pay regular medical
expenses (sort of like buying food insurance to pay your bills at
the grocery store).  When I sold health insurance in (1965-1966)
there were Major Medical policies that were designed to cover
unexpected medical expenses.  The whole idea of insurance is to
cover unusual events, not the day-to-day normal expenses.  This
way the cost of the unusual events is spread out over a larger
group of people so the cost is lower per person.  Using medical
``insurance'' to pay normal bills is ridiculous since it costs at
least $40 to process every claim (that's why there are
deductibles on auto insurance -- to elimnate the small claims).

King County Medical just refused to renew two employees in our
group plan because they had the misfortune to get sick!  This
then made our number of eligible employees fewer than required to
qualify for group coverage so we had to switch insurance
companies requiring new waiting periods and all the garbage about
pre-existing conditions.

This really pisses me off because I pay out much more in premiums
each year than I've incurred in medical expenses in my life!  The
reason I pay the premiums it so that I have coverage if I really
need it.  Now I find out this isn't going to happen.

Bill
-- 
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