New Tax on Insurance Companies? Real Healthcare Reform!

Health Care Bill Passes But Will It Help? While it's clear to many that something needed to be done to fix the healthcare system in the U.S. I have to admit I am not sure the bill that congress just approved is the answer. I am tentatively hopeful that it will help the majority of those who are currently uninsured because the situation as it stands is horrible.

As someone who has worked in the healthcare industry, I believe that regulating the insurance companies would be more effective than requiring people to buy insurance or face fines. Mandating the purchase of a product that people may or may not be able to afford seems ludicrous to me.

What I have seen from within the healthcare industry is that the doctors and hospitals are not making huge amounts of money. I have seen insurance companies pay as little as $4.00 on a $100.00 charge. The medical provider is then required to adjust the difference. Needless to say, there's no way to pay overhead such as malpractice insurance, staffing, or facility costs if the insurance companies are paying the medical provider pennies on the dollar. The provider is then forced to make up that loss elsewhere, generally by charging uninsured patients higher prices.

While some specialists may be making very large profits, I think most are not. So where is the money going? According to a report by the advocacy group Health Care for American Now (HCAN http://healthcareforamericanow.org/) the top five for-profit health insurance providers made record profits in 2009 totaling $12.2 billion!

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007 there were 45.7 million uninsured Americans. While these numbers are up for debate with critics claiming the numbers are even higher (reportedly the Census only reports those that were uninsured for the entire year) how many of those 45.7 million could have received coverage with just a small piece of that $12.2 billion?

A better solution in my opinion would be to perhaps place mandates instead on the insurance companies where a percentage of profits would be paid into a fund to provide coverage for the uninsured. There's no doubt they would fight tooth and nail but perhaps making the big players share the wealth would work. The bill as it stands now will require taxpayer dollars to support it. Why shouldn't the companies that are profiting from this broken healthcare system be required to contribute to a solution?

Making affordable insurance available to anyone that wishes to buy into it is critical. Mandating it when many people are barely scraping by doesn't seem like a solution to me. Forcing small businesses to provide healthcare for their employees when they are struggling to survive places an unfair burden on them when most are struggling simply to survive.

I'm not a politician and I'm not an economist. But as someone who has worked in the healthcare industry I have seen how little insurance companies are allowed to pay providers for medical care. As a small business owner I am also well aware that for most small businesses having real healthcare coverage is nothing but a pipe dream. We are lucky to be able to afford major medical insurance that protects us only in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury, and then only after paying a huge out of pocket deductible.

My fear is that big business, Wall Street, and our legislators have seriously lost touch with what the majority of Americans are facing with regard to real economic living conditions. Just about everyone I know is beyond broke. Fellow business owners have admitted defeat and closed their doors or are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Penalizing people that can't afford to buy insurance just adds salt to their wounds.

Personally I am sick and tired of being among those that continue to sacrifice so that corporate bigwigs can continue to receive their big bonuses, stock options, corporate jets, and lavish lifestyles at the expense of fellow Americans. Someone needs to stop the madness!