Tag: Cigna

Affordable Health Care is an Oxymoron

The words “Affordable Health Care” are a contradiction.  By its very nature health care is unaffordable.  That is the reason so many countries have embraced universal health care as a national responsibility. 

The rhetorical term oxymoron, made up of two Greek words meaning “sharp” and “dull,” is itself oxymoronic.

As you probably remember from school, an oxymoron is a compressed paradox: a figure of speech in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. British writer Thomas Gibbons characterized the figure as “sense in the masquerade of folly.”  This explanation comes from http://grammar.about.com/od/rhetoricstyle/a/100-Awfully-Good-Examples-Of-Oxymorons.htm.

In my opinion the most outrageous oxymoron statement was “Peace for our time.”  It was said by  Neville Chamberlain on September 30, 1938.

My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is “peace for our time.” Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.

On September 3, 1939 in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declared war on Germany.

 

While health care is hardly in the same category as a war, the Affordable Health Care Act is not affordable.

Obamacare rates are going way up. The latest estimate from the federal government is that the average midlevel Obamacare plan, the most popular choice, will cost about 22 percent more in 2017 than it did in 2016.  This is based on data from 39 states where people sign up through the HealthCare.gov website and some preliminary data from four other states and the District of Columbia.

The health care industry is a “for profit” system that hides under the IRS category of “non-profit” but pays its management high rewards.  Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard J. Tyson  earned $2.3 million in salary and other compensation in 2010, according to Kaiser’s federal tax filing.

For profit companies Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini and Cigna CEO David Cordani both saw their total pay surge to $17.3 million in 2015 after earning $15 million and $14.5 million, respectively, in 2014.

Over the past six months, Mylan, which is one of the world’s largest purveyors of generic medicines, raised prices more than 20 percent on two dozen products. And Mylan also boosted prices by more that 100 percent on seven other products, according to Wells Fargo analyst David Maris, who called some of the price hikes “exceptionally large.”

So where is the affordability?  The idea of controlled costs is a myth.  There are no laws limiting the profits that hospitals earn, pharmaceutical companies earn, or insurance companies earn.

For reasons that evade me the GOP’s war on Obamacare offers no reasonable alternative.  Of course if their intent is to protect health care profits by returning health care to the way it was before Obamacare was enacted, they are on the right path.

Will the Anthem-Cigna deal cost you money?

The question posed by the Los Angeles Times is ludicrous. Dave Jones, California’s insurance commissioner, said he doubts there will be any significant benefits to customers from this latest merger.

This is a no brainer. With reduced competition Anthem will be able to raise their rates and possibly reduce coverage for many with hard to treat illnesses.

In a society where profits are the driving force we all know that this merger will be approved and everyone will pay more for coverage. Even those not enrolled with Anthem or Cigna will see their rates increase.

Imagine the cost of the food you eat if there was only one source. You must buy your food from that one source or grow it yourself. That one giant food store chain sets the prices and the profits rise to the delight of the stock holders.

We need more people like Senator Bernie Sanders. When will this situation change? Not until the majority of the population voices their opposition.