Letters To The Editor: Insurance Companies Will Suffer the Greatest
Insurance Companies Will Suffer the Most
Editor, Times-Dispatch: President Barack Obama and the Democrats aren't tired of spending money we don't have. While the United States has the best health care system in the world, they propose health care reform that by their own estimates will cost $1.2 trillion to $2 trillion. Not only is the cost astronomical; during a time when even Obama says we're broke, this proposal could make our health care system worse.
It is being put together too quickly without detail or enough evaluation and analysis. The president claims that we'd still be able to choose our doctors and our coverage, but this is not true. A government bureaucracy would decide what health care and procedures a person could receive -- if at all -- in the name of resource management and efficiency.
In countries with national or universal health care, patients may wait two or more years for a needed operation even when they are considered eligible. Health care decisions should be left to the individual and his doctor, not a bureaucrat in Washington.
A recent Lewin Group study shows that upward of 100 million Americans would lose their current health care plan and have to use the government's plan. When given the option of providing health care for employees or letting workers get their insurance through the government, most employers would choose the option that costs less -- having their employees participate in the government-run plan.
How can private industry compete with the federal government when the government can operate without having to make a profit? All it needs to do is raise funding. With the government health care plans undercutting private insurance, the private insurers will go under, leaving people with no choice but to turn to Uncle Sam for their health care needs. It is important to communicate with legislators about this very important issue.
Jane Logan.
Richmond.
All Three Branches Need Personnel Changes
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Our Constitution gave us three independent branches of government that were to provide checks and balances, thus preserving the rights that are reserved for the people. Too often now, rather than protecting our rights, the three branches have conspired to relieve us of them. That process will not stop until the electorate changes the population of those three institutions.
Secession is not the answer. We the people must become united and seek out and elect those of us who will stand in defense of our rights and preserve the principles contained in the Constitution. Put an end to the political class.
John Mittell.
Richmond.
Washington Must Fix Health Care System
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I am still hopeful that Congress and the president can come up with a single-payer health care system for this country. Our economy and our citizens need and deserve to be out of the current topheavy, inefficient health care system. Mindy Loiselle. Richmond.
Climate Legislation Is Based on Hot Air
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Cap-and-trade is based on questionable -- some even say junk -- science. It is an absolute fraud and will cripple the U.S. economy. A PowerPoint show by former Vice President Al Gore does not constitute proof and a consensus of scientists is a farce.
The consensus of most scientists was nearly unanimous in 1491 that the Earth was flat.
The consensus of most scientists in 1850 was that the atom was unsplittable.
The consensus of most surgeons in 1940 was that open heart surgery was impossible and to attempt it was unethical.
Fortunately, all those scientists were wrong. I, myself, had open heart surgery in 2001, proving that consensus in science in nonsense. True science demands proof -- not political spin.
Congress must not destroy our country based on this supposed consensus. By the way, has anyone noticed that the proponents do not say climatologists or oceanographers or paleontologists agree? There are social scientists, there are psychologists, opthamologists, oncologists, proctologists, metallurgists, dentists, etc. -- none of whose training qualifies them in climatology, atmospheric analysis, or oceanography. If a dentist offers his opinion on operating a nuclear power plant, is he considered an authentic expert -- even if his urologist agrees with him? I think not.
Let's ignore that "consensus of scientists" baloney. A vote for cap-and-trade is a vote for hoax.
Don Cahill.
Fork Union.
Is All the Media Crazed With Grief?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Anyone in his right mind was saddened by the death of pop star Michael Jackson. However, the amount of news coverage devoted to his death is absurd and appalling. You allotted three pages of the front section of the newspaper, including the front page, to the death of the talented, yet freakish and past-his-prime, singer and dancer. Ridiculous.
The television networks were even worse. The NBC news at 6:30 devoted almost the entire show to his death, followed by CNN at 7:00 which did likewise. At first we tried muting the shows until news came on, but when it became apparent that this was the only news to be reported, we turned the TV off.
Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, energy, and health care have all become irrelevant, it seems. How long will the media continue this madness? I hope nothing Earth-shaking happens any time soon, because we certainly will not be told about it by the media.
Carol M. Smith.
Sharps.
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Reader Reactions
Global warming is the biggest batch of “snake oil” ever sold. By the time we’re done financing Cap-in-Trade, Obama Care and TARP, we’ll be eating our shoes for food. Our senators and congress representatives don’t read the bills their voting on. Special note: Congress has their own “special” health care plan. It’s much better than anything you or I could imagine ever getting. They need to focus on audiology though, because our elected representatives obviously can’t hear the voices of their constituents.
thetruth-I see that you are up and about bright and early! Beating the same old drum.
It is a shame because you really do have some excellent points. All lost in irritating repetition and even more irritating rhetoric.
The de-classe references to boozing or other unfortunate personal problems usually reflect the writers preoccupation with such matters.
Especially when it is repeated frequently.
But then that does seem to be the problem here, doesn’t it?
Why not just ignore my posts and I will be happy to do the same.
“Health Insurance : Copy the auto insurance model. Safer drivers get lower rates. Fatties and smokers get higher rates. DUI=STD.”?….
One issue with such practice is leaving the decision-making in the hands of insurance industry.
Degree of trustworthiness of the industry includes:
*Aetna settling racketeering lawsuits by paying $470 million in claims to doctors.
*Cigna paying $540 million to settle claims that it systematically underpaid the nation’s 950,000 doctors.
*UnitedHealth paying $350 million to settle claims by the American Medical Association and others who sued over how the insurer calculated the amount it paid patients for out-of-network services.
*Blue Cross Blue Shield paying $131 million to settle similar claims by the AMA.
*Humana paying $133 million to settle similar claims by the AMA..
*WellPoint/Anthem paying $448 million to settle similar claims by the AMA.
*Excellus paying $63 million to settle similar claims by the AMA.
*Health Net paying $140 million to settle similar claims by the AMA.
Physicians have the power of unity to fight for their rightful claims. How about you, as a single citizen? Who is going to protect your interest from the predators who deny your claims in part or whole?
It was only June 24 when some of us open to the truth read: Health insurers have forced consumers to pay billions of dollars in medical bills that the insurers themselves should have paid, according to a report released yesterday by the staff of the Senate Commerce Committee. Insurers use numbers from Ingenix, a wholly owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. Ingenix had an incentive to produce benchmarks that low-balled usual and customary rates and shifted costs from insurers to their customers, the report said. Ingenix got its data from the same insurers that bought its benchmark information, the report said. Insurers that contributed information to Ingenix often “scrubbed” their data to remove high charges, and Ingenix further manipulated the numbers, removing valid high charges from its calculations, the report said. Still, UnitedHealth chief executive Stephen J. Hemsley said UnitedHealth stands by “the integrity of the Ingenix data.“ Sure he does, and perhaps he will also someday collect his $1.1 billion retirement bye-bye as a prior United CEO.
Trust the crooks? “More, please”. Foolish to trust them? You decide. Oops! Not unless you have a non-profit insurance option to make the decision.
Health Insurance : Copy the auto insurance model. Safer drivers get lower rates. Fatties and smokers get higher rates. DUI=STD.
Government : Nothing is going to change without term limits. Term limits have to come first.
Climate : 20,000 years ago everthing north of Pennsylvania was permafrost or under a sheet of ice. Sun-made global warming was a good thing for the human race. Global cooling is the planet killer. Id rather put on SPF-30 sunblock than put on 4 layers of clothing.
Greta, I specified the use of the word queue and cue as a verb, not a noun, which is what you are referring to. Actually the two words can be interchanged, but hey, what does The American Heritage Dictionary know?
The internet has it’s merits as a means of tracking down journals or peer reviewed papers, but I know of no professor or other academic that would accept a source solely from the internet. So your statement of “Then on to the books and journals and whatever else supplements the outlines that can be found on line.“ is completely wrong. Quoting from the internet is highly frowned upon when submitting peer reviewed work. As far as calling someone an imbecile on your so called science websites and having your clock cleaned with facts and data, as long as you bring facts and data, there is nothing to worry about. Mr. Cahill’s so called facts and data where anything but that. More like urban legend and cartoon sensibilities. I have seen people called an imbecile to their face in an academic setting, you have to be a little thick skinned.
H.Everton, I said I suspect, culturally, that you fall somewhere between white trash and redneck. I assume you are white, so since when is it racist for one white person to suggest another white person might be a redneck, myself being white. I suppose I could have omitted that suggestion, because by your post’s, it’s pretty clear you fall into that category somewhere. And actually, the Preamble of the Constitution also contains the line “promote the general Welfare”. But that is neither here nor there, because I never made a statement for or against any healthcare bill or reform. I was merely commenting on your moronic statements such as “When have class, eloquence and culture ever done a thing for this country?“ and “The Government’s job is to kill people in other countries I have never heard of and will never go to”.
CWB- By your comment calling me white trash you have exposed yourself as a likely racist and bigot. In my experience bigotry is usually unwavering because it is based on deeply ingrained ideology which ignores logic. But I will ask- did these eloquent statesmen say anything in the constitution about providing every American with health care? I haven’t found anything there yet, but I did see quite a bit about a national defense. I am not holding my breath either because they were Americans, not socialists.
Hey Cahill! Where are you getting your scientific facts from??????????? You getting paid to make these boneheaded comments? Whoever your getting your info. from sure is….
FACT: There is no debate among scientists about the basic facts of global warming.
The most respected scientific bodies have stated unequivocally that global warming is occurring, and people are causing it by burning fossil fuels (like coal, oil and natural gas) and cutting down forests. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which in 2005 the White House called “the gold standard of objective scientific assessment,“ issued a joint statement with 10 other National Academies of Science saying “the scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action.
I guess you believe there’s an evil cabal of mad climate scientist out to destroy the worlds’ economy and Al Gore is their leader. The only hoax here is being perpetrated by people like you. Give it up for God’s sake and go ditto yourself some more.
H.Everton, we are all products of some sort of culture, a culture we embrace or grew up in or live in (I suspect yours falls somewhere between white trash and redneck based on your comments). Your obliviousness to the discrete difference between being PC and class and eloquence speaks volumes.
Although I doubt you understand the definition of those words, I will at least name a few people who you may or may not have heard of, but none the less have had those words used as adjectives to describe them: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are two of the most eloquent documents ever written, but I guess the people or documents mentioned have never “done a thing for this country?“.
Since you seem to want our government to exist solely for the purpose of destroying people and countries you are unaware of, I will name some people who have contributed to our military might and who could be described as having eloquence and/or class: Dwight Eisenhower, Robert Oppenhiemer, Leo Szilard, Albert Einstein, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell. But once again, I suppose those people have never “done a thing for this country?“. I also suppose none of those folks worked hard or had any common sense at all.
Since you seem to be barely literate, it seems logical that you have some sort of axe to grind with people that are literate or evenly moderately educated, because it doesn’t seem like it would take much for others to exceed your mental capacity, I am sure everyone in the world around you seems “smart”, and it sounds like you resent that.
Posted by ( greta ) on July 02, 2009 at 7:18 pm: “Now if you had only maintained your attention span a little longer perhaps the whole post might have made more sense to you.”
Posted by ( greta ) on July 02, 2009 at 7:54 pm: “No inurance talk do not bother to read (# of shots of booze in 36 minutes?)….You won’t want to be calling anyone an “imbecile’ though, they tend to clean your clock with facts and hard data…
Poor ole thing. “they”?…”with facts and hard data”? What “facts and hard data”?
Best to sleep it off, awake Friday AM, gulp pot of coffee, and think; perhaps later to tell the world what to do?
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