Game is up for health insurers

Game is up for health insurers | U.S. | Reuters Game is up for health insurers
Thu Oct 29, 2009 11:41am EDT


-- John M. Berry is a guest columnist who has covered the economy for four decades for the Washington Post and other publications. The views expressed are his own. --

By John M. Berry

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Health insurance companies are aggressively raising premiums at the same time they are fighting to stop the creation of public non-profit funds that would give them serious competition.

This foolish effort to pad profits before any healthcare overhaul gets passed ought to backfire. The so-called public option was already gathering support despite claims by conservatives that it would lead to a government takeover of health care.

Small businesses face an average premium increase of 15 percent for 2010, according to The New York Times. Separately, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which run Medicare, said that premiums for Medicare Advantage plans -- those are private plans for people also enrolled in regular Medicare -- are going up 25 percent.

With costs rising like this, it is remarkable how many supporters the insurers have in Congress. Even the best of the companies are a pain to deal with.

The for-profit insurance companies are a unique feature of the U.S. health care system. No other developed country has them, and their existence is a key reason Americans spend a much higher share of their national income on health care -- while leaving many people uninsured.....perhaps there will be some competition creep into the health insurance industry. i, as many americans, would applaud reform.