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Healthcare is dominating the national agenda, with the rhetoric heating up higher almost daily. And there seems to be so many questionable charges of what will happen if major healthcare reform is put into law by the congress. Just who’s telling the truth, who is exaggerating, who is there putting out absolute falsehoods? And what’s the bottom line for Louisianans? My new column is now posted, and I make an effort to bing some reason to the debate. You can read it now by Clicking Here.
The one underlying fact that no one seems to be bringing up in the health reform debate is that the 1300 US insurance companies do not have to abide by US anti-trust laws. This is a major part of the problem and it makes all citizens victims of unfair competition.
The Sherman Act, passed in 1890, banned practices include price fixing, price gouging, etc. The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 is charged with issuing cease and desist orders to corporations with unfair trade practices.
Unfair practices are citizen’s problems whether it is health, homeowner, or auto insurance. It further substantiates how insurance companies and their lobbyists control our political lawmakers. Lawmakers who go out and create 1000 page laws to mask or neutralize the original laws put in place to protect every citizen are contributing to this crisis. They are stifling economic growth and job creation. What happened to GM is just one of the “canary in the mine†scenarios going on in this country.
I am a 58 year old self-employed individual who can’t go out to an insurance company and expect to get a fair quote on health insurance. The insurance companies share a national database of citizen’s health history. Consequently, even if you are considered in perfect health, under our current health insurance practices the price that you must pay to attain health insurance is based on both healthy and unhealthy individuals that are in your demographic.
Insurance companies not adhering to current laws is not the only problem, most would agree that our health care system is riddled with inefficiencies, excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, and poor management. This is a crisis and needs to be fixed.
Bill Walsh
New Orleans