Private Health Insurance Is Gross Failure

There are those who belive the only problem with private health insurance is that it doesn't cover all Americans. It is a problem that around 41 million Americans don't have health insurance, but finding a way to cover them with private health insurance will not solve America's healthcare problem. In fact, it may actually make it worse.

The American Journal of Medicine is publishing in its August edition a study by researchers at Harvard University. This new study shows what an abysmal failure private health insurance is in America. The study found that 62.1% of all bankruptcies in the United States are due to huge medical bills.

Now you may be thinking these people should have had health insurance, but the sad fact is that three-quarters of them did. They had private health insurance, and yet still wound up with medical bills so large they had to declare bankruptcy. And this problem is growing worse very fast. In 2001, bankruptcies were caused by medical bills only 46% of the time -- so it has climbed 16.1% in the last 8 years.

Why aren't private health insurers paying the medical bills of their clients? That's easy. They are greedy. The company's profit is larger every time they deny paying a medical claim. In fact, the insurance company employees who deny the most medical claims are rewarded with the largest bonuses. These companies don't care that your life depends on an expensive medical procedure that they refuse to pay for. They kill thousands of people each year by refusing to pay for life-saving medical treatment.

That is why our nation's healthcare problems will not be solved as long as we depend only on private for-profit health insurance companies. These companies will always consider the maximazation of their profits to be more important than paying for medical treatment. The company profit gives them a built-in incentive to deny medical claims.

Of course, they are already beginning the propaganda effort to convince Americans that private insurance is preferable over a government-run single-payer health insurance system. One of their favorite lies is to ask whether you want a government bureaucrat in charge of your healthcare instead of a doctor. What a ridiculous question!

Almost every industrialized nation has a government-run single-payer system of health insurance, and in every one of those countries, a doctor determines what medical treatment is done -- not a government official. And that treatment is cheaper because the profits of private insurance companies have been eliminated. Also, in those countries, NO ONE HAS TO DECLARE BANKRUPTCY BECAUSE OF MEDICAL BILLS!

Right now, doctors are not in charge of the healthcare of most Americans -- an employee of an insurance company is in charge, because the doctors cannot do any medical procedure the insurance company will not pay for. Even worse, most Americans cannot choose their own doctor or hospital, but must use a doctor and hospital from a list provided by the insurance company.

I want to choose my own doctor and hospital. I want my doctor back in charge of my healthcare. And I don't want to have to declare bankruptcy because my insurance company refuses to pay my medical bills. That is why I'm in favor of a government-run single-payer health insurance system.

Anyone who thinks our private for-profit insurance system can be fixed has been duped by the insurance propaganda. Do you really want an insurance company employee, whose bonus depends on how many claims he/she can deny, in charge of your healthcare?