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OndinitaAKALibchit
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Joined: 05 Oct 2009
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Location: Where the sun don't shine! ;-)
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 Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 3:06 pm Post subject: Top 5 insurers made $12 billion, dropped 2.7 mill people |
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| Quote: | Report: Top five insurers made $12 billion in profits last year, dropped 2.7 million people
With health reform floundering, Democrats have renewed their attacks on the insurance industry and a new report out today hopes to bolster their case that insurance company practices need to be reigned in. The report finds that the top five largest for-profit insurance companies increased their profits by $12.2 billion last year while dropping coverage for 2.7 million Americans.
As a group, WellPoint, Aetna, UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Cigna saw their profits jump 56 percent in 2009 up $4.4 billion over the previous year, according to the report. Four out of five companies saw profits increase while insuring fewer people. Cigna increased earnings by 346 percent while UnitedHealth shed 1.7 million beneficiaries. Aetna, which increased its membership and percentage of premiums spent on medical care, was the only company to see less income in 2009 than 2008.
"Increasing your profits, dropping people is a specific corporate strategy," said Richard Kirsch of Health Care for America Now, the progressive coalition that prepared the report. "What the big health insurance companies do to please Wall Street denies affordable health insurance to millions of Americans, millions more Americans every year."
The report comes as the Obama administration and House Democratic leadership have seized on Anthem Blue Cross' decision to raise rates by up to 39 percent in California. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote a letter to Anthem this week asking them to justify their rate hike and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman announced that his committee will hold a hearing on increases this month.
Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the industry trade group America's Health Insurance Plans, said that for every dollar spent on health care, less than a penny goes to health insurers' profits, which are below other health care industries.
“According to new government data, in 2009 the portion of premiums that went towards administrative costs declined for the second year in a row, while spending on hospitals, physicians, and prescription drugs continued to soar. The real focus needs to be on the increase in the underlying cost of medical care, which is putting health care coverage out of reach for many families and small businesses,” he said.
But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) isn't buying that explanation.
"They're going to try to hide behind the actuaries to tell us the increases are justified, but you have to remember these are the same insurers that for months have been manufacturing reports claiming that health insurance reform will cause them to raise premiums," she said. "The fact is they can't have it both ways."
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http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0210/Report_Top_five_insurers_made_12_billion_in_profits_last_year_dropped_27_million_people.html?showall
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"If by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties ... if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal,' then I’m proud to say I’m a 'Liberal.'" ~ Senator John F. Kennedy 9/14/1960
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blackballed
Professional
Joined: 15 Feb 2009
Posts: 1510
Location: north to south
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:11 pm Post subject: Re: Top 5 insurers made $12 billion, dropped 2.7 mill people |
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| OndinitaAKALibchit wrote: | | Quote: | Report: Top five insurers made $12 billion in profits last year, dropped 2.7 million people
With health reform floundering, Democrats have renewed their attacks on the insurance industry and a new report out today hopes to bolster their case that insurance company practices need to be reigned in. The report finds that the top five largest for-profit insurance companies increased their profits by $12.2 billion last year while dropping coverage for 2.7 million Americans.
As a group, WellPoint, Aetna, UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Cigna saw their profits jump 56 percent in 2009 up $4.4 billion over the previous year, according to the report. Four out of five companies saw profits increase while insuring fewer people. Cigna increased earnings by 346 percent while UnitedHealth shed 1.7 million beneficiaries. Aetna, which increased its membership and percentage of premiums spent on medical care, was the only company to see less income in 2009 than 2008.
"Increasing your profits, dropping people is a specific corporate strategy," said Richard Kirsch of Health Care for America Now, the progressive coalition that prepared the report. "What the big health insurance companies do to please Wall Street denies affordable health insurance to millions of Americans, millions more Americans every year."
The report comes as the Obama administration and House Democratic leadership have seized on Anthem Blue Cross' decision to raise rates by up to 39 percent in California. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote a letter to Anthem this week asking them to justify their rate hike and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman announced that his committee will hold a hearing on increases this month.
Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the industry trade group America's Health Insurance Plans, said that for every dollar spent on health care, less than a penny goes to health insurers' profits, which are below other health care industries.
“According to new government data, in 2009 the portion of premiums that went towards administrative costs declined for the second year in a row, while spending on hospitals, physicians, and prescription drugs continued to soar. The real focus needs to be on the increase in the underlying cost of medical care, which is putting health care coverage out of reach for many families and small businesses,” he said.
But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) isn't buying that explanation.
"They're going to try to hide behind the actuaries to tell us the increases are justified, but you have to remember these are the same insurers that for months have been manufacturing reports claiming that health insurance reform will cause them to raise premiums," she said. "The fact is they can't have it both ways."
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http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0210/Report_Top_five_insurers_made_12_billion_in_profits_last_year_dropped_27_million_people.html?showall |
GOOD FOR THEM FOR WANTING TO PROFIT SOME MONIES.  BB |
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busdriver
Journeyman
Joined: 16 Mar 2009
Posts: 3497
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | “According to new government data, in 2009 the portion of premiums that went towards administrative costs declined for the second year in a row, while spending on hospitals, physicians, and prescription drugs continued to soar. The real focus needs to be on the increase in the underlying cost of medical care, which is putting health care coverage out of reach for many families and small businesses,” he said. |
Duh, Bammer and crew said the insurance cos. were the pricks behind the high costs
Hospitals etc were like getting in Disneyland free, insurance cos. were choking these medical providers tighter then dick chokes his chickens .So after the vote the Medical Providers are scum and the Insurance Companys are our new friends [/quote] |
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Amphikalein
Journeyman
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 3177
Location: Corrales, NM
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:13 pm Post subject: Re: Top 5 insurers made $12 billion, dropped 2.7 mill people |
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| blackballed wrote: | | OndinitaAKALibchit wrote: | But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) isn't buying that explanation.
"They're going to try to hide behind the actuaries to tell us the increases are justified, but you have to remember these are the same insurers that for months have been manufacturing reports claiming that health insurance reform will cause them to raise premiums," she said. "The fact is they can't have it both ways."
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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~Martin Luther King Jr.
"May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth, ever speak the truth and serve justice." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Brant
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Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 5277
Location: Hopewell Township
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:44 pm Post subject: |
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Don't be distracted by all the smokescreens, just look at the bottom line: the profits. You ought to see the "reserve funds" these big insurance companies have. I was talking to a guy recently who visited the main offices of one of these major insurance companies, and he said it made the Taj Mahal look like a shack erected along Catfish Creek.
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busdriver
Journeyman
Joined: 16 Mar 2009
Posts: 3497
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| Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:44 pm Post subject: Re: Top 5 insurers made $12 billion, dropped 2.7 mill people |
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| Amphikalein wrote: | | blackballed wrote: | | OndinitaAKALibchit wrote: | But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) isn't buying that explanation.
"They're going to try to hide behind the actuaries to tell us the increases are justified, but you have to remember these are the same insurers that for months have been manufacturing reports claiming that health insurance reform will cause them to raise premiums," she said. "The fact is they can't have it both ways."
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hospitals and such are very expensive. |
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Amphikalein
Journeyman
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 3177
Location: Corrales, NM
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| Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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Which is why public health financing is so important.
_________________
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~Martin Luther King Jr.
"May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth, ever speak the truth and serve justice." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
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busdriver
Journeyman
Joined: 16 Mar 2009
Posts: 3497
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:37 am Post subject: |
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| Amphikalein wrote: | | Which is why public health financing is so important. |
yea Amps, do you think adding more numbers to the back of the numbers we already have on services and costs improves much of either?
For 50 years or more, we added more digits to the price of everything and accomplished what?
It is like adding more water to our river; river doesn't get better,it just get more roily and destroys every thing in its path.
Maybe we need a good old 1930's like period of world wide deflation, this game has topped out and needs a new game to start from the first inning again?/ |
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pap
Understudy
Joined: 23 Nov 2009
Posts: 538
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:54 am Post subject: |
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| Amphikalein wrote: | | Which is why public health financing is so important. |
No matter who pays the cost of health care remains the same. With a public option taxes will go way up. They did nothing to control the cost of healthcare. They should have focused on the providers, not the insurance companies. |
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Amphikalein
Journeyman
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 3177
Location: Corrales, NM
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:54 am Post subject: |
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We have not been adding to the financing of public health systems. More commonly, public health budgets have shrunk. | Quote: | | A March 2010 report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found federal spending for public health has been flat for nearly five years, while states around the country cut nearly $392 million for public health programs in the past year. These cuts leave communities around the country struggling to deliver basic disease prevention and emergency health preparedness services. |
_________________
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~Martin Luther King Jr.
"May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth, ever speak the truth and serve justice." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
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pap
Understudy
Joined: 23 Nov 2009
Posts: 538
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:56 am Post subject: |
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| Amphikalein wrote: | We have not been adding to the financing of public health systems. More commonly, public health budgets have shrunk. | Quote: | | A March 2010 report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found federal spending for public health has been flat for nearly five years, while states around the country cut nearly $392 million for public health programs in the past year. These cuts leave communities around the country struggling to deliver basic disease prevention and emergency health preparedness services. |
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WHAT!!! Lok at medicaid, its cost are going out of sight. That is public funding for health care. |
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busdriver
Journeyman
Joined: 16 Mar 2009
Posts: 3497
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:05 am Post subject: |
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| pap wrote: | | Amphikalein wrote: | We have not been adding to the financing of public health systems. More commonly, public health budgets have shrunk.
| Quote: | A March 2010 report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found federal spending for public health has been flat for nearly five years, while states around the country cut nearly $392 million for public health programs in the past year.
These cuts leave communities around the country struggling to deliver basic disease prevention and emergency health preparedness services. |
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WHAT!!! Lok at medicaid, its cost are going out of sight. That is public funding for health care. |
I swear to God the education system is all f up or people don't have a lick of sense these days. |
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