Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Health Insurance Profits NOT EVIL, Democrats Demonize Profits of Anyone but Themselves



From Political Integrity. com here is an interesting article on the not so evil profits of health insurance companies:
Oh, Nancy Pelosi and the progressive liberals of Congress…how is it you have come to hate money so much when you yourself are awash in it?

Said Nancy: “I’m very pleased that (Democratic leaders) will be talking, too, about the immoral profits being made by the insurance industry and how those profits have increased in the Bush years.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who also welcomed the attention being drawn to insurers’ “obscene profits.”

Even here you feel the childish need to mention Bush. Tsk, tsk, Nancy. Do you really want us to put our magnifying glasses on you and compare notes?

Remember, Insurance Companies are evil. They are drunk on the profits they have so ruthlessly yielded and need to be destroyed! Where’s my pitchfork and torch? Behold an article from the AP, gasp!, and judge for yourselves who is really talking smack and who is really trying to make a living.

From the From AP.

WASHINGTON – In the health care debate, Democrats and their allies have gone after insurance companies as rapacious profiteers making “immoral” and “obscene” returns while “the bodies pile up.”
But in pillorying insurers over profits, the critics are on shaky ground. Ledgers tell a different reality.

Health insurance profit margins typically run about 6 percent, give or take a point or two. That’s anemic compared with other forms of insurance and a broad array of industries, even some beleaguered ones.


Profits barely exceeded 2 percent of revenues in the latest annual measure. This partly explains why the credit ratings of some of the largest insurers were downgraded to negative from stable heading into this year, as investors were warned of a stagnant if not shrinking market for private plans.

Insurers are an expedient target for leaders who want a government-run plan in the marketplace. Such a public option would force private insurers to trim profits and restrain premiums to compete, the argument goes. This would “keep insurance companies honest,” says President Barack Obama.

The debate is loaded with intimations that insurers are less than straight, when they are not flatly accused of malfeasance.


The insurers may not have helped their case by commissioning a report that looked primarily at the elements of health care legislation that might drive consumer costs up while ignoring elements aimed at bringing costs down. Few in the debate seem interested in a true balance sheet.

A look at some claims, and the numbers:

CONTINUED

12 comments:

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

I have figured out what to write about in my first conservative article ... "Competition"

Doom said...

What was it about getting people to believe lies, that you merely repeat them often enough? And, don't bother with tiny fibs or little lies, as Hitler suggested, do bigger than big and bolder than bold lies and do so directly.

I am starting to think if Germany and Russia had a FOX News network and the internet, Hitler and Stalin would have been no more than Quota Boy. Of course, that we are armed makes sure that we keep FOX and the internet. So, I suppose I should, and happily, add the Second Amendment.

Andrew33 said...

Good for you Odie. Competition is the engine that drives the country. Unfortunately we have a regime in power now that wants to tilt the playing field in its own favor.

Ron Russell said...

Insurance companies are greedy---my, my whats next! As you point out the profit margin of the insurance companies is very low somewhere between 2-5% depending on what source you use. The profit margins at most grocery stores runs around 7-10% again depending on the source. So with that kind of thinking maybe we should nationalize all of them so everyone would have cheaper food---but wait didn't they try that out in the old USSR and I do recall the empty shelves in the food stores and the long lines when a few loafs of bread would come in. This is whats waiting for us under Obamacare---long lines and shortages of vital life-saving services.

The Right Look said...

Let's hope more like Lieberman step up and tell Reid where to shove his pubic, I mean public option!

-j-

Most Rev. Gregori said...

I ordered one of my grandsons to STOP mowing his neighbors lawn because the money he gets is nothing but evil profits.

Teresa said...

Odie,
I am looking forward to your first article on "competition."

Teresa said...

Doom,
Yes, The 2nd amendment is a wonderful thing.

Teresa said...

Andrew33,
Yes, Competition is a very good thing. Unfortunately the other side isn't playing fairly.

Teresa said...

Ron,
You hit the nail on the head. There's gonna be rationed care with long lines and long waits.

Teresa said...

The Right Look,
Yes. Lieberman's developing a backbone. Thank God!

Teresa said...

Most Rev. Gregori,
OMG your grandson was allowed to make profits from his hard work. The nerve. (sarcasm) Profits from working hard should be encouraged and not penalized.