whats wrong with private insurance?

Question

why do american leftists hate private healthcare and private insurance so much? even in many european nations where socialized healthcare exists, they still allow people to choose the private alternatives if they want. this is because they know that public health is so much worse. Ive lived in Hungary for several years, and even though they all pay for public health, no one uses it. they would rather pay more for private service. the only thing better about it is that illegals cant use it because they always ask for a "TB" card which proves that you are a working legal resident. in america even illegals get medical attention. maybe thats why healthcare prices are going up...

Answer 1

Well in the US the cost for private insurance is exhorbitant !! I cant afford it- its half my total income.

Answer 2

Look at the government's response to hurricane Katrina. All the left did was go on and on about how inefficient and clumsy the federal response was. The thing is, they were correct. The federal response was terrible. Yet they want to hand over the responsibility of the entire nation's health to the same people?? That sounds like a terrible idea to me.

Oh great, there's already been one "evil greedy corporation" response. Get real. What about the evil greedy government? A corporation can go out of business if they don't do their job. It happens all the time. Companies go under because they got too greedy or didn't provide a quality service. The federal government has no such limit. Their greed can expand as far as their imaginiations, and nobody can stop them. Congress gives themselves raises! Then they throw in extra money for some ridiculous pork on a bill that has nothing to do with where the money is going.

Bottom line: the government will always be more corrupt than any corporation. Even the corporations that work with the government are still at their mercy.

Another response about HMOs : HMOs were created officially by the government in 1973. It was the government that agreed to provide funding for them. They also agreed to remove state imposed restrictions if the HMO was "federally certified." Basically, follow our rules and you get money. But there are still rules.

Anise - are you diabetic? Did you know that the majority of people who get past the "preventative" stage and actually need surgery get there because of non-compliance? They don't take their medication and they don't pay attention to the dieting restrictions set by their doctors.

I just had a kidney transplant (completely covered by my private insurance). All the nurses in the hospital said the number one cause of organ rejection is patient non-compliance. People just don't do what they are supposed to, especially when they start to feel a little better. Is this the fault of the insurance company?

When I tried to fill a medicine I was told the insurance company didn't approve it. I made a simple phone call to the insurance company and found out that it had in fact been approved and the pharmacist was mistaken. It's easy to blame companies but there are a lot of people out there who would be in better health if they just did what their doctor told them.

Answer 3

You need to educate yourself a bit more. Private insurance companies look for ways to not have to pay your claims, and they have the power to decide a procedure is not necessary or is too experimental, even when it's what your doctor believes is the right treatment. This kind of thing is bad enough when it's your car insurance, but when it's your health insurance it can kill you or bankrupt you (after all, you can always just sell your car to the junkyard, but you have no choice but to pay for whatever your body needs to live).

Read the World Health Organization's ranking and report on the world's healthcare systems. The American system excels in things like amputating a diabetic's foot, but is TERRIBLE at promoting healthy lifestyle, detecting and managing diabetes so the foot never has to come off in the first place. Why is that? Because the system is profit-based. In France, doctors get a raise if their patients stop smoking--say it with me slowly: preventative medicine. Surgeons in the US make the most money on triple bypasses etc.

There's no incentive for preventative medicine in a profit-driven system, which thrives on the most expensive procedures, necessary when people are already quite sick.

Answer 4

Ha ha ha "leftists", you mean, liberals? It is funny how the right-wing in this nation are constantly reinventing words to demonize liberal ideals, while offering no solutions themselves.

Fact, Over 17,000 American citizens will die this year because there is no universal healthcare system. This number does not include people who have private insurance but are denied treatment because of penny-pinching HMO's. This is over three times as many people who died during the september 11th attacks; every year. People like you believe, wrongly, that because they cannot afford a private health care plan, that they simply deserve to die.

This is wrong, America is a land of plenty. We can insure the uninsured, we can save lives. Recently America was ranked 37th in terms of health care quality in the world, just behind Nicaragua. Don't think we can do any better? That is just sad.

While you are off blaming "illegals" and poor people for your increased costs, the republicans draft legislation to protect drug companies from lawsuits, so when big pharma pushes a drug onto the market THEY KNOW IS NOT SAFE (like Vioxx) they are protected from having to take responsibility for their actions.

Meanwhile our excellent private healthcare system gives hospitals the idea to kick parapalegics into gutters simply because they are not covered. Is that America? Is that what you think we should stand behind?

Face it, the system sucks, it needs to be fixed.

Answer 5

I can not speak for anyone else but here is my opinion, take it for what it is worth. I am not against private insurance. That being said what I am against is the quality of someone’s health care being based on economic status. I believe my kids (as children of a struggling single mom) deserve the same quality of health care as Bill Gates' kids. I also am against an insurance company dictating what care you "need". For example my 18 yr old cousin was just in a horrible accident (still has no feeling in her legs and has had 19 surgeries in the last 5 weeks) and her insurance company will only cover a hospital stay through the 31st of July regardless of here stability. The docs who went through medical school should be making these calls, not an insurance company.

Answer 6

A man goes to see his Dr. The man is told you need to go to the hospital now. We have to crack your chest and do a by-pass. Apparently the man is 2 breaths away from a heart attack. The nurse at the Drs. office drives the man to the hospital and checks him in. The operation is a success, the man is healing fine. Because the nurse didn't check him in thru the ER the insurance company doesn't want to pay the surgeons. Why? Because they aren't on the insurance network and he wasn't checked in thru the ER. So now the man has to fight with the insurance company. That is what is wrong with private insurance. I have more if you like.

Answer 7

Because when health care and insurance companies are backed by a Corporation, that's where the greed comes in. Corporations are greedy. Health care is one of the most expensive things right now.

Answer 8

The major problem with private insurance co's is that most of them are fly-by-night companies that are never there when it comes time for them to produce.

They just pack up, over night, and move on, to even more un-suspecting believers in private insurance.

.

Answer 9

I have private health and it isn't cheap..I still prefer it..I pay for my auto and home owners insurance, so why would the government pay for my health insurance?

Answer 10

drno, FEMA was efficient and effective under Clinton and James Lee Witt.