Jim Henderson wrote:

> 
> 
> And how did we get into that debt?  Partly by skyrocketing health care 
> costs.  The bloody insurance companies aren't going to fix that.  The 
> whole friggin' system is set up to keep us SICK so the shareholders in 
> hospitals and insurance companies can MAKE MORE MONEY.  That's messed up.
> 
> 

This is one place in this debate where I grow a little confused.  I 
understand the idea of containing some waste, redundant tests, redundant 
bureaucracies, possibly, with health insurance centralized under 
government.  But can you really blame the Health Insurance Industry for 
everything?  Afterall, the criticism they usually take is for denying 
benefits so that they pay out less money and make more profit for 
themselves.  The allegation I hear is that this tendency (to cut 
benefits) is then reinforced, even amplified, by Wall Street investors 
who examine payout ratios before making their investments.  I would be 
interested in what you believe is the exact mechanism whereby the Health 
Insurance Industry contributes to skyrocketing health care costs.

Just to be clear, I generally find myself in favor of government 
involvement in health care, in particular in the health insurance side. 
  In particular I think that health insurance needs to be divorced from 
employer compensation.  So this is not a persoanl challenge to you, if 
you can give me an answer that makes sense, I will use it mayself in 
conversation.  But currently I cannot see how the insurance industry 
takes the blame coming and going.

-Jim

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