Ex-Blue Cross spokesman says health insurance ‘worst product in American history’

rawstory.com...

Teaming with the liberal Brave New Films, a former Blue Cross pitchman is now pitching against Blue Cross.

Andy Cobb, who once tried to sell Floridians on a Blue Cross health insurance plan, says he's fed up with the industry.

"I was a spokesman for BlueCross and Blueshield of Florida," Cobb says. "Call me a spokesjerk. People who make money for buying things you don't need. And we're telling you lies."

"They, by which I mean I, make money by standing in the way of reform," Cobb says in the ad, which appears as a spoof of something like a freecreditreport.com ad. "It's time for change."

"That's why I'm calling on leaders from the spokesjerk industry," Cobb continues. "The freecreditreport.com guy. The Shamwow dude. And Senator Bill Nelson, recipient of big money from insurance companies -- to lead us. To walk away from their cash cows and tell American people the truth.

Are more stories like this going to come out about the "For Profit" health care industry that views the Citizens of this country as nothing more than $$$$?

IMO it is morally wrong to make money off of the suffering of others.

reply to post by whaaa

IMO it is morally wrong to make money off of the suffering of others.

Oh so what you are saying is that the healthcare industry as a whole is immoral, like Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals, Drug Companies?

Doctors, nurses, and drug companies make way more % profit than the insurance industry does for managing part of the process.

[edit on 7-11-2009 by HotSauce]

reply to post by HotSauce


Please don't put words in my mouth. Perhaps you should give this a read.
www.abovetopsecret.com...
Pay particular attention to #17

Doctors, nurses, and all health professionals, even drug co's contribute to the welfare of the patients.

Insurance companies push paper and ultimately only have their stockholders welfare in mind.




[edit on 7-11-2009 by whaaa]

Originally posted by HotSauce
reply to post by whaaa

 

IMO it is morally wrong to make money off of the suffering of others.

Oh so what you are saying is that the healthcare industry as a whole is immoral, like Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals, Drug Companies?

Doctors, nurses, and drug companies make way more % profit than the insurance industry does for managing part of the process.

[edit on 7-11-2009 by HotSauce]

They are also the delivery system -

Doctors have to WRITE OFF a portion of EVERY SINGLE insurance CLAIM they submit-
I see from 15% to 60% of every claim has to be written off...

The health insurance industry is a scam - they hold your money, distribute it and keep the rest.

How can we be sure this "former Blue Cross Pitchman" isn't being paid big money to pitch the liberal anti-health insurance agenda?

I kinda get the feeling the whole Govt. vs. Big insurance gig is just a big sham. Everytime the Govt. tries to clamp down on an industry, it tends to (intentionally in my opinion) give that industry more power and increase it's profits; anti-monpoly legislation and the Federal Reserve are great examples. See how well they've worked.

The more I look at the health care reform, I can't help thinking this will, in the end, only serve to boost the profits of the insurence industry.
They are forcing each and every one of us to buy insurance from one of these companies wether we can afford it or not. This will usher in millions of new paying customers for the insurance industry and make their pocketbooks that much fatter.

Just food for thought.

Peace.

Originally posted by whaaa
reply to post by HotSauce

 

Insurance companies push paper and ultimately only have their stockholders welfare in mind.

That is it - paper and they amass capital - their JOB is to take as much money as they can out of the capital pool. The key is not in the profit, it is in operation, every year they need to determine new ways to expand operations, which means WE pay more be design.

reply to post by Janky Red


I am pretty sure that isn't a scam. That is how it is supposed to work. They also invest the money too, so when you get a terminal illness they can pay those bills too.

reply to post by FortAnthem


You got thatt right. Wouldn't you love to own a business where the government brought you customers who either buy your product or go to jail? Wait a minute. I just had an idea. We need software design reform. I need more customers.

reply to post by whaaa

Ex-Blue Cross spokesman says health insurance ‘worst product in American history’

For what it's worth, my wife works in the health insurance industry so... I understand first hand that the industry itself is a leech that both feeds from and blocks access between the healthcare provider and the patient.

That is the truth here, in the US... you cannot access decent, personal healthcare without an insurance card.

Prior to this situation, there was nothing between the provider and the consumer and costs were affordable. My mother (age 86) tells me that my birth cost her (circa mid-1950s) all of $26 a day.

The problem is not lawsuits or the actual cost of doing 'health' business. It is that we are supporting the 3rd party insurance industry that has placed itself squarely between the market and the consumer. This industry employs millions and so... once you factor that into the fiscal equation, of course it all costs more!

Beyond that, the Pharms see the healthcare insurance thing as a pond and they fish that pond just as do doctors, hospitals, etc.

It wouldn't be easy but... if we really wanted to set healthcare right, we would merely need to remove insurance, period, and allow time for the market to balance itself so that the consumer could afford the service.

Problem solved.

But that period of transition would be painful. Too painful, in fact, to be workable.

We made this mess by allowing the health insurance industry to usurp the system and now... it is almost beyond repair.

Originally posted by HotSauce
reply to post by whaaa

 

IMO it is morally wrong to make money off of the suffering of others.

Oh so what you are saying is that the healthcare industry as a whole is immoral, like Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals, Drug Companies?

Doctors, nurses, and drug companies make way more % profit than the insurance industry does for managing part of the process.

[edit on 7-11-2009 by HotSauce]

My goodness you are so far off! I am a neurologist and can say for a fact that the ones costing all so very much are the parasites on all of our backs in this system which contribute nothing and make the most! Those would NOT be the doctors or nurses at all. It is the insurance companies and the drug companies and they all stand to continue to profit or in fact, make more with the new "Obamacare" plan!

Originally posted by FortAnthem

I kinda get the feeling the whole Govt. vs. Big insurance gig is just a big sham. Everytime the Govt. tries to clamp down on an industry, it tends to (intentionally in my opinion) give that industry more power and increase it's profits; anti-monpoly legislation and the Federal Reserve are great examples. See how well they've worked.

The more I look at the health care reform, I can't help thinking this will, in the end, only serve to boost the profits of the insurence industry.
They are forcing each and every one of us to buy insurance from one of these companies wether we can afford it or not. This will usher in millions of new paying customers for the insurance industry and make their pocketbooks that much fatter.

Just food for thought.

Peace.

That seems to be the case now - should have gone the Universal route

Like medicare in administered by a private company Palmetto GBA which handles the administration and billing but operates at 3% - Health Insurance companies in that regard operate 15% - 22%

Originally posted by HotSauce
reply to post by Janky Red

 

I am pretty sure that isn't a scam. That is how it is supposed to work. They also invest the money too, so when you get a terminal illness they can pay those bills too.

That is how it is supposed to work- It is a necessity in the modern world and the SYSTEM
is a monopoly. Yes they invest - they use pool money to invest in their system to justify higher costs - your money is used to insure you pay more...

The system is a one song show, it is designed to INCREASE premiums and cost.
The irony is your premiums are utilized to INCREASE YOUR PREMIUMS - that is the scam.

Once again IF these current costs increase at current levels - employer based
Coverage for a family of four will be $60,000 ++ ; a year in twenty years.

That is not fudge or hype - but simple math

131% increase in the last 10 years

lets under estimate the inflation to 100%

$15,000+ now

$30,000+ in 2019

$60,000+ in 2029

can you afford it?

[edit on 7-11-2009 by Janky Red]

reply to post by Janky Red


You do realize that nationalized healthcare as proposed in the current plans in Congress does nothing to address the actual costs of care. Even single payer doesn't address the cost. The tax or the debt will just keep increasing to cover the expenses, so you will still be forced to pay huge amounts for insurance once the government takes control whether you want it or not.

What needs to be done is to address the cost of care.

Originally posted by HotSauce
reply to post by Janky Red

 

You do realize that nationalized healthcare as proposed in the current plans in Congress does nothing to address the actual costs of care. Even single payer doesn't address the cost. The tax or the debt will just keep increasing to cover the expenses, so you will still be forced to pay huge amounts for insurance once the government takes control whether you want it or not.

What needs to be done is to address the cost of care.

I do... You also realize the stink you conservatives have been raising about regulating private industry? Single payer would have addressed cost - that WAS exactly the point
of it in the first place... The money pool goes to DELIVERY, NOT ads, lawyers, executives and INVESTMENT in the COMPANY with THE POOL MONEY.
Currently ALL insurers contract and stipulate cost - from medicare to PPO.
They do this when a doctor becomes "IN NETWORK" - the contract a doctor signs to have access to the pool of the insured stipulates cost.

You have got one thing for certain it is a mess now - TOO BAD, like I said make one basic program and make a PPO supplemental private. ONE uniformed system - with the option to supplement for those who do not like the public system.

Either way that is over sixty thousand dollars for private insurance in 2029 - wonder what you will think then, its coming...

IMO the attempt at bi partisanship in this instance has created
a monster - should have let it be purely socialistic as gross as that sounds. I am not speaking as a partisan but as a person who processes claims all day. You would be shocked at how much doctors write off and how much the companies pocket for processing a piece of paper, really.

shhhh! Telling the truth on this, and many other issues, is un-American. I mean, come on, making access to health care both affordable and not-for-profit is a threat to my freedom and my American way of life.

You should know better Whaa

It's great isn't it when someone comes clean?

reply to post by whatukno

WUK. It's nice to have what we already knew, onfirmed.

Saddly I don't think much is going to change for the man in the street even with Obamas HC bill.


Even the Iraqi's have health care paid for by guess who???



www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by whaaa


I looked into some PSA's lately and here are some of my favorite ones out there.



www.americansforprosperity.org...

Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Prosperity Foundation are two separate entities with their own governing boards. Each is a national organization based in Washington, D.C., with staff on the ground in state chapters across the nation.

The above PSA is from this Americans for Prosperity, a (you guessed it) Lobby group, or in other words, a special interest group.



www.i2i.org...

Yet another special interest group this one is out of Golden Colorado and run by Jon Caldara.

Remember these two? This was back in the Clinton Era and Harry and Louise were against the Clinton reforms.



But hey! Look who's back!




This one is just funny, and I like Will Ferrell



[edit on 11/11/2009 by whatukno]

reply to post by whaaa


Hey, wait when they get away with having their whores in congress forcing private insurance mandates on citizens and tax payers in this nation.

They will have a steady gravy train of sucker to leech at will for life.

reply to post by marg6043


Isn't that the fun of having special interests deciding what the government does instead of the people? I mean where would we be if our legislature had to I don't know, listen to the people exclusively and special interest groups were barred from Washington DC?