Insurers Set To Raise Prices, Walk Away From Consumers: Goldman Report

Insurers Set To Raise Prices, Walk Away From Consumers: Goldman Report

www.huffingtonpost.com

The market concentration for health insurance is so monopolized in some areas that insurance companies are willing to raise prices and lose customers in an effort to improve their bottom line, a leading insurance broker told Wall Street analysts on Wednesday.

In a conference call organized by Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research, Steve Lewis, a highly regarded broker at the world's third largest insurance broker, Willis, painted a picture of the health insurance market in which employers seem likely to be priced out of coverage.

Noting that "price competition" between insurers was "down from a year ago," Lewis relayed that "incumbent carriers seem more willing than ever to walk away from existing business."

(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 3/5/2010 by iMacFanatic]

Ya know this is coming. Whine and complain all you want about the source of this article...but you know this is coming.

What is happening in California is just a foretaste and guaranteed if the health care bill fails; before the year is out, insurance prices will sky rocket.

Of course they may hold off until after the election just to pay off the GOP for their devotion but either way...

we are screwed.

AND when prices to sky rocket like they will... it may very well be the last nail in the GOP's coffin...

and it would serve them right.

www.huffingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 3/5/2010 by iMacFanatic]

Remember this the next time your insurer asks you to bend over.

reply to post by iMacFanatic


They have already started the upward spiral. Blue Cross/Blue Shield hit me with an extra $150 a month yesterday. Thanks GOP for screwing the working man; your corporate masters thank you!!





[edit on 5-3-2010 by whaaa]

Let me see if I have this straight.

-There are 255 Democrats in the House of Representatives versus 178 Republicans.
-There are 57 Democrats in the Senate versus 41 Republicans.
-The President of the United States is a Democrat.

Yep. Looks like its all the Republicans' fault.

This is what I dont understand about the US mainstream mindset....

You know the insurers rip you off, you go bankrupt if you fall really ill, or its not in the small print...

But there has been years ago with Hilary Clinton and now Obama,

Viterol and almost manical opposition to a national or state health care system.

I saw a clip of a republican Congresman asking in the house for all the USA to pray and ask for "Supernatural" intervention to stop any health care bill.

I really find it hard to understand.

For the amount of PROFIT alone without current payments for actual treatments, these firms make, the US health care system if not private with that level of decentralised investement would be the best in the world...

Weird.

But thats just my opinion.

Kind Regards,

Elf

reply to post by MischeviousElf


Its all about trust. In the end, the public opposition to these healthcare plans revolves around concerns that the government will screw it up even worse than it already is. It should not be taken as an endorsement of the insurance industry.

In the end, the problem is that the Democrats bit off more than they could chew. If they had tried to pass it incrementally, I think they'd have had some success, but when the thing tipped the scales at 2,000 pages, it looked for all the world like the monstrosity that the opposition made it out to be, and it was doomed from that moment. There's no way humanly possible that the Democratic backers of the bill could individually defend all 2,000 pages and the GOP made them do exactly that. Its easy to pick out a few questionable items on any random page in such a bill. Its a lot harder to be prepared to answer for all of those items.

It was a strategic failure on the part of the Democrats. They gambled, went with the all-or-nothing approach and it backfired big time.

reply to post by vor78


You have Reid and Pelosi to thank for that - trying to "ramrod" a gigantic healthcare bill down America's throat quickly so Obama could focus on the next liberal agenda item.

What sickens me is Reid went publicly to individual senators and gained their support through back-room incentives. Any blue dogs who had legitimate concerns were asked to ignore those concerns with the help of a generous portion of money for their state, which looks mighty fine for your re-election prospects. And people didn't DEMAND that Obama make that bloodsucker step down!

[edit on 5-3-2010 by sos37]

reply to post by sos37


You're exactly right. The two jokers to blame for this are Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. They got too ambitious, not just on this but their entire agenda, and the public soured on them. As I've said all along, they BADLY misread their 'mandate'.

Originally posted by vor78
reply to post by MischeviousElf

 

Its all about trust. In the end, the public opposition to these healthcare plans revolves around concerns that the government will screw it up even worse than it already is. It should not be taken as an endorsement of the insurance industry.

I hadnt thought about it from the angle who do you trust more with you health,

Government or Private business.

But as you point out its the main factor in this.

but says a lot about the state of support for government in the USA. I mean we all know the Pharma and Insurance companies are only interested in one thing, even if you die for it.

It was a strategic failure on the part of the Democrats. They gambled, went with the all-or-nothing approach and it backfired big time.

Well all democart supporters then should feel really let down as, its become political, not about providing a fair, equal and efficient health provision for the population, but just an bargaining chip.

Thanks for your insight indeed.

Kind Regards,

Elf

reply to post by vor78


It also hurts the Dems side when their own people claim it might take 8 or 12 years to make it a really good bill.

I was watching the news the other day and a democratic congressman actually said, "It isn't a great bill but we need to pass it now while we can." Then he went on to say that over the next 8 or 12 years they could ammend it to make it right.

Really makes me want my congressman to vote for it.

Originally posted by MischeviousElf
Well all democart supporters then should feel really let down as, its become political, not about providing a fair, equal and efficient health provision for the population, but just an bargaining chip.

Agreed. I'm not a big fan of the Democratic party, quite the opposite and I'd never deny that, but I can understand why they're frustrated. I can understand why they're lashing out at the GOP; heck, the Republicans are being obstinate in their opposition...but that's what their voting base wants them to do. I'm not saying they're necessarily right, but its hard to blame the GOP for that.

The Democrats, both the leadership and the rank-and-file, need to take a moment for introspection. Instead directing their frustration at the GOP, they need to look at their own house and correct the mistakes being made on their side. There have been plenty.



[edit on 5-3-2010 by vor78]

reply to post by vor78

The GOP and their allies have filled the air waves with so much disinformation (like death panels) that most people can't tell the lie from the reality so yes.

People get frightened they contact their congressperson who then gets frightened...you know the routine.

reply to post by iMacFanatic


They have, but that's just part of the political game. Both sides lie like sons of bi***es about the other. But again, it goes back to what I said earlier. The plan was too big. Toss a gigantic bill on the table and it is very, very easy for the opposition to characterize it as a monstrosity. Its incredibly difficult for the proponents who can't possibly know the details of every page in the thing, yet its much easier for the opponents to pick out problem areas that they can use to corner individual Democratic representatives on.

Simply put, the Democrats gift wrapped the issue for the GOP, handing them an enormous advantage on the issue from the outset, one that they were able to capitalize upon.

Understand something: I'm not defending the GOP's tactics. I'm simply saying that the Democrats basically gave it to them through their own poor choice to ram a giant bill through all at once. If they had passed this incrementally, it would have been much easier to defend and they might well have emerged victorious in the court of public opinion on the merits of each individual point. Selling the public on the whole thing at once? Much, much, much, MUCH more difficult, as the Democrats have realized.



[edit on 5-3-2010 by vor78]

reply to post by vor78

Its not just that...the Democrats have never learned that the GOP plays nasty and for keeps...its one of the main reason they keep snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Dems...and Obama is a prime example...seem to think that they can take the high road and be rewarded for it and the GOP laughs and goes for the jugular.

reply to post by iMacFanatic


Both sides are dirty. The problem isn't that the Dems didn't fight nasty enough, its that they simply underestimated the Republicans. They believed their own press clippings from the election, misread their mandate, and never thought the GOP could muster enough opposition to fracture even the Democratic party itself. They fooled themselves into believing they could pass anything and there was nothing the GOP could do to turn the public against them.

They were wrong. They gambled with a huge bill and lost.



[edit on 5-3-2010 by vor78]

"guaranteed if the health care bill fails"

Insurance co's are telling us the costs will rise even further if the bill passes.

Doesn't really matter who is guilty of what...if this bill fails we will all be screwed by the insurance companies and both parties will be to blame but the GOP played the big lie...tell a large enough lie often enough and people will believe it...and per usual the American people fell for it.

reply to post by iMacFanatic


I think we're screwed either way. I don't trust either group of ***holes...the government nanny staters or the insurance industry... to do what is in my best interests. That's primarily why I don't support the bill. I can't support the mandate. At least as it is now, I don't have to buy it if I don't want it.

[edit on 5-3-2010 by vor78]

I am not a fan of either party. However, there was a good thread on ATS disecting the original bill. It seems that a lot of people became antsy over what was originaly put forth.

Lets Discuss What Is In The Health Care Bill

[edit on 5-3-2010 by MikeNice81]