As if to prove that the last thing we need in the health care industry is insurance companies and to give us one more reason to want a single payer system, we are now faced with the latest insurance scam.
It seems that before the end of the year, a lot of insurance companies sent letters to their clients canceling plans because of the ACA and a few other reasons. A number of the cancelled clients said good riddance to bad rubbish and went out and found policies under the ACA that turned out, with the subsidy, to be considerably cheaper, usually about 40% cheaper.
Now those ex-clients find that the insurance companies that cancelled them, have turned around and without their permission, have instituted new policies in their names and have deducted the funds to pay for these new premiums from the individual’s bank accounts.
It seems that the cancellation notice had additional clauses that told the client that if they did not notify the insurance company that they didn’t want further insurance that the company would sell them a new policy and deduct the premiums directly from their bank account. Since most people don’t read the small print in anything, the insurance companies make sure that all printing was done in a typeface only readable by bats with night vision glasses.
Lesson number one-always read all insurance policies cover to cover, especially the small print. Lesson number two, never give anyone the ability to deduct funds from your bank account-anyone.
This is just one more reason why the ACA, which is now on solid ground, must not sit on its laurels but must forge ahead with significant changes that will make it the healthcare plan for which, we all have fought. Probably the two most important changes will line it up against two of the most powerful lobbies in the political field, Insurance companies and lawyers, a pair of professions that have worked hard to solidify their reputations as bottom feeders.
The savings inherent in changing the system to a single payer are off the charts. Some estimates are as high as 40% savings on medical billing but even the most conservative come in over 20%. That’s an enormous saving, one that will help keep the system in the black for decades to come while lowering premiums by significant amounts.
The second improvement has to be in regulating the ability of patients to sue indiscriminately for malpractice. Now, be aware, I did not say the elimination but the regulation of this much-abused practice, which is currently costing even brilliant doctors, millions in insurance fees. Notice how every time there is an abuse the insurance companies are front and center.
The problem here is that there are hordes of ambulance chasers out there panning for gold. There are a large percentage of malpractice suits that have no basis in reality, but the ambulance chasers know that it is cheaper for the insurance companies to settle than to go to court so that is what happens. The result is that the doctors, whether the suits are valid or not have to put up with increased premiums on their already sky high premiums.
The idea is not to absolve shoddy doctors from any malpractice claim but to create panels of doctors to rule on the validity of those cases and to take them out of the hands of the courts by creating a kind of an arbitration situation. The idea is to take the insurance companies and the lawyers out of the healthcare business. For those of you who think this is unfair to those businesses being targeted, consider the fact that these moves might not be necessary if those professions had not abused their charter and their position in the first place.
Affordable Healthcare is one of the most important functions of government. This is true in almost every civilized nation in the world. We have sadly lagged far behind to this point. It’s way past time to catch up. For those who think it’s socialism, you are right – to a point. But it is the kind of socialism that is inherent in every successful government in the world. It is one of the aspects of government that is necessary for democracy to function. The things that make our style of living work have been slowly eroding for the last couple of decades. It’s time that we got them back and made them stronger, else we will find ourselves slipping into a third world status.