Insurance Company Profits

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: manlymatt83
I've been reading that a lot of people support the public option because large insurance companies "rake in billions of dollars of profit each year". So you're telling me that even though not everyone is required to have health insurance, so people who don't get sick and are less likely to use the insurance don't maintain a plan, that there are still billions of dollars of profit per year?

This moveon video:

http://pol.moveon.org/insuranc...90-7971826-1GQv3Ex&t=2

was really interesting. But I just find it hard to believe that the insurance companies are really ripping people off that much. I read somewhere that insurance companies only make about 2-3% profit per year.

It's not about the companies' profit margin, which at 2-3% is not that huge. What they hide with the profit margin is the MASSIVE compensation packages / bonuses their people get, for doing what basically amounts to bankrupting / hurting (and in some cases killing) their customers. These compensation packages are nicely hidden by saying that "profits are only 2-3% per year". Those profit numbers are AFTER paying all compensation to employees, including executives.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Insurance companies are not what they once were, they have become just like stock brokers , they negotiate with the corporations to get a lower price . One person pays one fee while someone else may pay something different for the exact same service, that is hardly fair. If retail stores started a policy where depending on what mood the cashier was in, you paid a different price for the same items, people would be outraged.

using market power to extract savings out of doctors in order to provide the same level of service at a lower price isn't fair?

if you'd rather pay the doctor directly you're more than welcome to. oh, wait, that's more expensive than the insurance, isn't it?