And few seem to listen.
The "health insurance companies" are evil. Yes, they are. And they aren't insurance companies, really. Does anyone know this? They are the health care industry, basically giving you discounts so that you will do your health care business at their hospitals and with their doctors.
It's capitalism at its finest. But it ain't insurance.
And now for the real problem: Medical inflation. This is the real beast we're fighting, and we're only just beginning.
This is a rant.
It is not a thoughtful diary about insurance and health care. It is not a rant about those evil capitalist health care giants making fortunes while even insured Americans go bankrupt and into foreclosure to pay for health care.
This is not a rant about how human beings are far different than automobiles and property when it comes to insurance, and how human health and life are too precious for privatization. I can go without a car or property ownership - I'll figure something out - but I must have some heath care to live.
This is about medical inflation. This rate, due in large part to technological advances and big pharma, is still going to be a problem, even if we had a single payer system going into place now.
We have all become so focused on the "evil health care insurance industry" that we're ignoring the underlying problem. It goes back several decades. It became a serious problem in the 1970's.
I've written about this before, and it was unpopular, but the "health care insurance industry" isn't the insurance you had back in the 1970's.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Those companies suffered losses, mainly due to health inflation, and got out of the business by the early 1980's. Let me repeat this: They weren't making money. They were losing it.
What you have now is not insurance. It is the health care industry. If you can't infer the importance of this distinction, let me spell it out for you: we are fighting the health care industry itself, not any insurance companies. What happens when you regulate them? They are going into loss mode. They will lose money if they can't drop people. Premiums will skyrocket. This will increase medical inflation, because the health care industry must make a large profit somewhere.
Now, I'm not implying in any way, whatsoever, that we don't need SINGLE PAYER NOW. Because that is exactly what we need. I have zero sympathy for the health care industry - they are doing just fine, and always will. But we're not going to get single payer. We're prepared to settle on a "public option". Medicare for all who need it would be a great compromise for progressives.
But no matter what we settle for, it must address medical inflation. I think the government - ours and other western governments - are the only true representatives of the people's welfare, and the only power strong enough to tame the wild beast that is known as medical inflation.
Anything short of public option doesn't even begin to address medical inflation. And it's a big compromise.
My rant: know who you're fighting, and what you are fighting for. I don't know how to scream across the chaos and be heard any better than this: the health care industry itself is fighting tooth and nail to maintain its huge profits. They aren't insurance companies. They are hospitals and big pharma. They can get rid of their middlemen/sales agents "insurance companies" and start caring about people's lives. This will save billions of dollars every year.
Government for the people, by the people, negotiating quality of life for all Americans, directly with health care providers. Because people are not cars, they are not property, and they are not pawns for autocratic manipulation.
The public option doesn't even begin to address medical inflation. It's going to be the start of a very rocky road until we, the people, have negotiating power over our own lives and health. Our work has only begun.