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	<title>Comments on: Are Health Insurance Companies the Villains?</title>
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	<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/</link>
	<description>Health Care Policy and Reform Insights &#124; NCPA</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 21 May 2012 13:39:13 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>By: Tips on evaluating life insurance companies</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-111215</link>
		<dc:creator>Tips on evaluating life insurance companies</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:49:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-111215</guid>
		<description>Hello there, simply was alert to your weblog via Google, and located that it is truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you happen to continue this in future. Lots of folks will probably be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hello there, simply was alert to your weblog via Google, and located that it is truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you happen to continue this in future. Lots of folks will probably be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!</p>
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		<title>By: mrdt9</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-109949</link>
		<dc:creator>mrdt9</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Mar 2012 00:01:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-109949</guid>
		<description>w7g  http://www.lifeinsuranceplanscompare.com/&#124;low cost life insurance zh9</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>w7g  <a href="http://www.lifeinsuranceplanscompare.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.lifeinsuranceplanscompare.com/</a>|low cost life insurance zh9</p>
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		<title>By: Ravi</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-109182</link>
		<dc:creator>Ravi</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:28:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-109182</guid>
		<description>As a fmreor medical transcriptionist, I had to sign a statement of confidenciality every year, being told that this protected me from any lawsuit in case I made a mistake on a medical report. After typing and editing hundreds of thousands of reports over the years, I became appalled at the audacity of doctors who made requests to change wording, or ask for previous reports to be  adjusted  to cover themselves because they administered medications to patients who subsequently had allergic reactions, leading to infections, sepsis and sometimes even death. Attorneys for insurance companies, hospitals, drug manufacturers and doctors are part of the budget. This is a system without regulations or controls. We are a nation under the thumb of this conglomerate of greedheads and their lobbyists, so do not expect change. I am soon to be without any healthcare, now disabled, and soon to be evicted because my medical bills will force me into bankruptcy. I am looking forward to a retirement of debt, depression, and degenerative arthritis due to this  greatest healthcare system in the world.  My only hope is to sell everything and flee to Mexico, where houses are $700 a month, and visitors healthcare is $300 a year. Hasta la vista, Arnold!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As a fmreor medical transcriptionist, I had to sign a statement of confidenciality every year, being told that this protected me from any lawsuit in case I made a mistake on a medical report. After typing and editing hundreds of thousands of reports over the years, I became appalled at the audacity of doctors who made requests to change wording, or ask for previous reports to be  adjusted  to cover themselves because they administered medications to patients who subsequently had allergic reactions, leading to infections, sepsis and sometimes even death. Attorneys for insurance companies, hospitals, drug manufacturers and doctors are part of the budget. This is a system without regulations or controls. We are a nation under the thumb of this conglomerate of greedheads and their lobbyists, so do not expect change. I am soon to be without any healthcare, now disabled, and soon to be evicted because my medical bills will force me into bankruptcy. I am looking forward to a retirement of debt, depression, and degenerative arthritis due to this  greatest healthcare system in the world.  My only hope is to sell everything and flee to Mexico, where houses are $700 a month, and visitors healthcare is $300 a year. Hasta la vista, Arnold!</p>
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		<title>By: Don Mehus</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-88731</link>
		<dc:creator>Don Mehus</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:03:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-88731</guid>
		<description>Marjory is isolating chronic disease  related to 75% of the nations 2.6 trillion dollars, from 25% of the population . which is a huge problem, but there need to be  a rational dialogue to handle these seperate issues</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Marjory is isolating chronic disease  related to 75% of the nations 2.6 trillion dollars, from 25% of the population . which is a huge problem, but there need to be  a rational dialogue to handle these seperate issues</p>
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		<title>By: KeepnItSimple</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-87685</link>
		<dc:creator>KeepnItSimple</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:32:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-87685</guid>
		<description>My health and well being IS NOT your financial business.

That SImple.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My health and well being IS NOT your financial business.</p>
<p>That SImple.</p>
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		<title>By: KeepnItSimple</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-87682</link>
		<dc:creator>KeepnItSimple</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:13:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-87682</guid>
		<description>The next dumb question out of this guy&#039;s mouth is gonna be, &quot;UMM UHH... Why does Car Insurance work better than Health Insurance... HUH tell me?&quot;  &quot;UH HUH thats the politicians fault too&quot;  

lol

Something I&#039;ll probably never need to make a claim for in my life but I&#039;ll definitely be paying for ( going 15 plus years strong now and counting with no payouts from the company having to be made yet)  now that&#039;s a good BUSINESS</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The next dumb question out of this guy&#8217;s mouth is gonna be, &#8220;UMM UHH&#8230; Why does Car Insurance work better than Health Insurance&#8230; HUH tell me?&#8221;  &#8220;UH HUH thats the politicians fault too&#8221;  </p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>Something I&#8217;ll probably never need to make a claim for in my life but I&#8217;ll definitely be paying for ( going 15 plus years strong now and counting with no payouts from the company having to be made yet)  now that&#8217;s a good BUSINESS</p>
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		<title>By: KeepnItSimple</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-87676</link>
		<dc:creator>KeepnItSimple</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:51:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-87676</guid>
		<description>This is a perfect example why everything run in this country is effed up and done with no common sense at all... only greed and profit... been saying for years that the people who run things in this country have more greed than intelligence ( no matter how many lame degrees they don&#039;t or do have)...  they&#039;ve got the money to start a business but no common sense to run it... greed

the person who wrote this thing just gave everyone the visual of it... he looks just like the same low life critters who run everything else in this country that&#039;s effed up because they have a lack of common sense and intelligence over &quot;me want more money&quot; 

first thing i thought when i saw his picture was &quot;he&#039;s all about money&quot; and not about anybody&#039;s well being (and as usual im an easy reader call em right every time). That&#039;s what health CARE really is, but NOT ABOUT in this country....  being physically and mentally healthy 

short and simple... THEY -WANT-YOUR -MONEY (premiums)  

anything else that actually has t  do with the word HEALTH and requires the littlest common sense to figure out.. won&#039;t happen

perfect example?.. this guy that wrote this thing just asked why doesn&#039;t health insurance work as good as life insurance? an answer i&#039;d bet a 5th grader could give you... really simple... can&#039;t believe i even have to break something this simple down - but not surised at all

SIMPLE ANSWER:  add the amount of people using their life insurance everyday compared to the amount of people using their health insurance...  (even simplier) how many people are dying everyday on their life insurance policies compared to the amount of people who are getting sick on their health insurance policies

you buy a life insurance policy and pay it every month of your life and then the company doesn&#039;t have to pay out one claim later until 10 - 50 years down the road on most of their customers

COMPARED TO

you buy a health insurance policy and the next day the company has to pay a claim... the week after that they have to pay another claim.... every month after that they&#039;re still putting money out for claims... they can&#039;t PROFIT 


SIMPLE. BUT NO CRITTER ON THIS PAGE HAD ANY COMMON SESNE TO FIGURE THAT OUT

my health is not your financial business (more lack of simple common sesne) and why we&#039;re in the mess we&#039;re in now.... Health &quot;Insurance&quot; should be called Health Business/ Profits instead... just ask this guy with the suit on in the pic... even he&#039;d admit to that... unless he&#039;s doing that &quot;Deny Delay Defend&quot; thing again they have to always do

SIMPLE AS IT GETS: You - Can&#039;t - Make - Peoples - Health - a - Business - They - Get - Sick - Too - Much. A business is supposed to make money, not give it out. (duh)

Get out of my Health &quot;services&quot;  Plain AND simple.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is a perfect example why everything run in this country is effed up and done with no common sense at all&#8230; only greed and profit&#8230; been saying for years that the people who run things in this country have more greed than intelligence ( no matter how many lame degrees they don&#8217;t or do have)&#8230;  they&#8217;ve got the money to start a business but no common sense to run it&#8230; greed</p>
<p>the person who wrote this thing just gave everyone the visual of it&#8230; he looks just like the same low life critters who run everything else in this country that&#8217;s effed up because they have a lack of common sense and intelligence over &#8220;me want more money&#8221; </p>
<p>first thing i thought when i saw his picture was &#8220;he&#8217;s all about money&#8221; and not about anybody&#8217;s well being (and as usual im an easy reader call em right every time). That&#8217;s what health CARE really is, but NOT ABOUT in this country&#8230;.  being physically and mentally healthy </p>
<p>short and simple&#8230; THEY -WANT-YOUR -MONEY (premiums)  </p>
<p>anything else that actually has t  do with the word HEALTH and requires the littlest common sense to figure out.. won&#8217;t happen</p>
<p>perfect example?.. this guy that wrote this thing just asked why doesn&#8217;t health insurance work as good as life insurance? an answer i&#8217;d bet a 5th grader could give you&#8230; really simple&#8230; can&#8217;t believe i even have to break something this simple down &#8211; but not surised at all</p>
<p>SIMPLE ANSWER:  add the amount of people using their life insurance everyday compared to the amount of people using their health insurance&#8230;  (even simplier) how many people are dying everyday on their life insurance policies compared to the amount of people who are getting sick on their health insurance policies</p>
<p>you buy a life insurance policy and pay it every month of your life and then the company doesn&#8217;t have to pay out one claim later until 10 &#8211; 50 years down the road on most of their customers</p>
<p>COMPARED TO</p>
<p>you buy a health insurance policy and the next day the company has to pay a claim&#8230; the week after that they have to pay another claim&#8230;. every month after that they&#8217;re still putting money out for claims&#8230; they can&#8217;t PROFIT </p>
<p>SIMPLE. BUT NO CRITTER ON THIS PAGE HAD ANY COMMON SESNE TO FIGURE THAT OUT</p>
<p>my health is not your financial business (more lack of simple common sesne) and why we&#8217;re in the mess we&#8217;re in now&#8230;. Health &#8220;Insurance&#8221; should be called Health Business/ Profits instead&#8230; just ask this guy with the suit on in the pic&#8230; even he&#8217;d admit to that&#8230; unless he&#8217;s doing that &#8220;Deny Delay Defend&#8221; thing again they have to always do</p>
<p>SIMPLE AS IT GETS: You &#8211; Can&#8217;t &#8211; Make &#8211; Peoples &#8211; Health &#8211; a &#8211; Business &#8211; They &#8211; Get &#8211; Sick &#8211; Too &#8211; Much. A business is supposed to make money, not give it out. (duh)</p>
<p>Get out of my Health &#8220;services&#8221;  Plain AND simple.</p>
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		<title>By: Neil H.</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-44946</link>
		<dc:creator>Neil H.</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:35:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-44946</guid>
		<description>Mark:

You are wrong. Or at least you are relying on a study that is interpreting the data wrong. Check out the NCPA study &quot;Do Other Countries Have the Answers?

I don&#039;t have the link handy, but it&#039;s at this web site on the CDHC home page.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mark:</p>
<p>You are wrong. Or at least you are relying on a study that is interpreting the data wrong. Check out the NCPA study &#8220;Do Other Countries Have the Answers?</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t have the link handy, but it&#8217;s at this web site on the CDHC home page.</p>
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		<title>By: Mike M</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-44940</link>
		<dc:creator>Mike M</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:01:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-44940</guid>
		<description>Insurance reform has emerged as the flashpoint of the week in health care reform.  Unfortunately the two sides are polarized into the status quo vs replace or compete factions. REFORM is necessary and possible but requires compromise as well as a paradigm shift.

For Profit health insurers contribute significantly to the increased costs of health care in the United States and to ignore this issue only caters to their nearly omnipotent lobby. On the other hand private insurers are much more skilled at providing options for individuals and groups as well as promoting efficiency than is the government. 


 The Medical Loss Ratio for insurance companies is 70-75% compared to about 95%% for medicare. According to Regina Herzlinger 5% overhead is typical for companies in Switzerland where a competitive highly regulated market exists. All working citizens are required to carry some form of insurance ranging from &quot;catastrophic only&quot; to policies with &quot;all the bells and whistles&quot;. 

I would suggest that regulated health care insurance similar to the Swiss system with costs overseen by health care equivalents of a Public Utility Commission could improve access and affordability without incurring excessive taxpayer burden.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Insurance reform has emerged as the flashpoint of the week in health care reform.  Unfortunately the two sides are polarized into the status quo vs replace or compete factions. REFORM is necessary and possible but requires compromise as well as a paradigm shift.</p>
<p>For Profit health insurers contribute significantly to the increased costs of health care in the United States and to ignore this issue only caters to their nearly omnipotent lobby. On the other hand private insurers are much more skilled at providing options for individuals and groups as well as promoting efficiency than is the government. </p>
<p> The Medical Loss Ratio for insurance companies is 70-75% compared to about 95%% for medicare. According to Regina Herzlinger 5% overhead is typical for companies in Switzerland where a competitive highly regulated market exists. All working citizens are required to carry some form of insurance ranging from &#8220;catastrophic only&#8221; to policies with &#8220;all the bells and whistles&#8221;. </p>
<p>I would suggest that regulated health care insurance similar to the Swiss system with costs overseen by health care equivalents of a Public Utility Commission could improve access and affordability without incurring excessive taxpayer burden.</p>
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		<title>By: Joanna Carrol</title>
		<link>http://healthblog.ncpa.org/are-health-insurance-companies-the-villains/comment-page-1/#comment-44938</link>
		<dc:creator>Joanna Carrol</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:31:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=4600#comment-44938</guid>
		<description>Most people have term life through their employer.  It is not covered under COBRA so there is no continuation; it can be converted but not at the employer discounted rate. So, portable? No. I&#039;ve never seen a case where an employee can convert, upon retirement, to whole life thru company plans. Maybe it happens, I&#039;ve never seen it. Now, the tricky part with company paid life insurance for employees, is that if an employee is hospitalized and not &quot;actively at work&quot; and he dies, the life insurance company does not pay. Maybe in some plans they do, maybe it&#039;s in the fine print somewhere, but I&#039;ve never seen a carrier pay when an employee who has not been actively at work, dies. In my experience, most carriers do offer an optional &#039;individual&#039; policy where the employee pays the full premium, via payroll deduction, for additional insurance, and I always encourage employees to do so. Thankfully, I&#039;m citing only 2 cases where co-workers died due to illness and the employer sponsored portion of their life insurance was not paid because they were not actively at work, in spite of premiums being paid.  My point, life insurance does have its own problems, and they are never ridiculous.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Most people have term life through their employer.  It is not covered under COBRA so there is no continuation; it can be converted but not at the employer discounted rate. So, portable? No. I&#8217;ve never seen a case where an employee can convert, upon retirement, to whole life thru company plans. Maybe it happens, I&#8217;ve never seen it. Now, the tricky part with company paid life insurance for employees, is that if an employee is hospitalized and not &#8220;actively at work&#8221; and he dies, the life insurance company does not pay. Maybe in some plans they do, maybe it&#8217;s in the fine print somewhere, but I&#8217;ve never seen a carrier pay when an employee who has not been actively at work, dies. In my experience, most carriers do offer an optional &#8216;individual&#8217; policy where the employee pays the full premium, via payroll deduction, for additional insurance, and I always encourage employees to do so. Thankfully, I&#8217;m citing only 2 cases where co-workers died due to illness and the employer sponsored portion of their life insurance was not paid because they were not actively at work, in spite of premiums being paid.  My point, life insurance does have its own problems, and they are never ridiculous.</p>
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