Universal health care: Missing the true problem

That is, focusing on health care costs: “None of the candidates have offered a specific plan to seriously rein in the growth of health care costs.”

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N=1
Yes and no. The largest casue of escapalating health care – RELATED costs is in administrative and insurance costs and fees, such as this one:
Los Angeles Times
May 26, 2007
WellPoint dividend is questioned
By Lisa Girion
State regulators are investigating whether a $950-million dividend
Blue Cross of California sent to its Indianapolis-based parent
violates an agreement the companies made to limit such payments to
keep premiums down and maintain the quality of healthcare benefits,
officials said Friday.
Officials said the parent, healthcare giant WellPoint Inc., should
have taken no more than $141 million out of California. They called
the higher amount excessive, particularly as Blue Cross, which serves
more than 7 million state residents, has continued to raise premiums.
The state Department of Managed Health Care also is considering
expanding its probe to determine whether there are any other
potential violations of the three-year agreement, part of a deal to
win the agency’s approval for a corporate marriage that created the
nation’s largest health benefits provider.
The merger came about when an Indianapolis-based company then known
as Anthem Inc. purchased Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint, which used
the Blue Cross license in California, and adopted its name.
Cindy Ehnes, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, said
she was shocked to learn of the $950-million payday for WellPoint,
whose total profit last year was $3.1 billion on $57 billion in revenue.
“We are concerned that it reflects a viewpoint of California being
its own ATM machine, while, at the same time, Californians are
struggling to get health insurance for their families,” Ehnes said in
an interview.
“Health insurance is a competitive industry that does not exhibit
excessive profit margins,” WellPoint spokeswoman Shannon Troughton said.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-
wellpoint26may26,0,3060723.story?coll=la-home-business
The agreement (Undertakings):
http://www.dmhc.ca.gov/library/reports/news/BCCunder112404.pdf
N=1
ARGH! Typo correction: “The largest cause of escalating….”
(Sorry)

Universal health care: Missing the true problem

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