DougH 270 #101 July 29, 2011 I'll say it was an assumption if it makes you feel better, or you think it makes my point about lack of responsability any less relevant."The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #102 August 2, 2011 people not profit... QuoteAt the end of 2010, executives told Wall Street that the “utilization” of medical services was lower than in 2009 because the flu season last year was less severe. They assured investors utilization would return to more normal levels during the first quarter of 2011. When it didn’t, the bad winter weather was to blame. Insurance executives wanted us to believe that people were not getting the care they needed because it was colder and snowier than usual. They assured us that medical spending would jump again as soon as the weather improved and the ice and snow melted. Surprise! It’s August and people are still not going to the doctor or picking up their prescriptions or checking into the hospital as much as they usually do. And what’s the excuse this time? It’s the economy, they say -- even though the recession officially ended more than a year ago. At least UnitedHealth’s executives ackowledged that, as AP reported, “health plans that make patients more aware of the cost of care may be having an impact.” May be? Give me a break. And stop the double-speak. What we’re so aware of is that we’re simply unable to get the care we need because of the often sky-high deductibles of today’s health plans, which insurers mislabel “consumer-driven.” Insurance industry executives are experts at talking in code, which makes it difficult to understand just how much they value profits over people. Occasionally, though, they slip up, as Aetna’s chieffinancial officer, Joseph Zubretsky, did last Wednesday during his company’s conference call with analysts. Clearly concerned that investors might think Aetna was willing to grow by adding people to its rolls who might have substantial medical needs, Zubretsky disabused Wall Street of that notion. “We would like to have both profit and growth, but if you have to choose between one or the other, you take margin and profit and you sacrifice the growth line,” Zubretsky said. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/01-10stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #103 August 6, 2011 QuoteNot even discussed is that the deficit would be eliminated if, as economist Dean Baker has shown, the dysfunctional privatized health care system in the U.S. were replaced by one similar to other industrial societies’, which have half the per capita costs and health outcomes that are comparable or better. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/06-0stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
