I like this part of the article We're scheduled to have millions of more Americans insured for health care and this Democratic governor thinks a way to hold down health care costs is to halt construction on new facilities. I'd suggest that firing some doctors would hold down health care costs. That's just as stupid.
No doubt worse care and less technology will be a result of our slide toward becoming a third world country except for the very rich. Might not be a damned thing we can do about it as long as we do not reign in excessive profits and general mismanagement by those in the healthcare field. There's a reason that seems transparent to me for Rick Scott to so vehemently oppose Obamacare and it has a lot more to do with protecting those seeking exorbitant profits than it does opposing Obama although like with all conservatives that is part of it.
Who is making "excessive profit" and help me understand what is excessive profit and just who is it that can make that judgement for us? Some Washington bureaucrat currently on the payroll of half the lobbying firms on K street?
If you can't understand what excessive profit is when it comes to healthcare costs for Americans then I understand why Rick Scott doesn't want this bill. If premiums doubled from what they are right now and no one mandated where that premium increase was spent....OK if it is all pure profit.....then that's just fine right? That's the blood that the turnip would bear.....er excuse me.... what the market would bear.
Thus far I have heard from you that anybody and everybody involved in the healthcare business is ripping off everybody. Docs, dentists, hospitals, medical equipment manufacturers and suppliers, drug manufacturers and suppliers, biotech companies, managed care providers and health insurers all are making excessive profits and need to have someone define for us just what is exactly excessive profits is.....who makes that ruling, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Obama or one of his unelected czars, beholden only to the residents of K street. Just fyi, the most profitable (measured by profit margin) health care insurer during the most recent quarter was Aetna, who posted a staggering 5.7% net profit margin.....excessive indeed. Where are these excessive profits and who is making them? Is it a giant conspiracy wherein all industry providers across all relevant industry groups are in collusion and don't compete against one another? Another of your conspiracy theories.... Stu has provided info that explains the great majority of the rising costs, it has nothing to do with anybody ripping off everybody.....this bill addresses NONE of the causal factors in the increase in healthcare costs.....it's just a massive tax increase
Dave I called you a socialist awhile ago and you denied it but you continue to expand the list of industries/jobs etc where you want the govt to dictate the profit/salaries of those involved.
Terry only those essential family needs is where I propose that controls be put into place. Those industries where you can't get along without the product or service should be price regulated because the present free market system is horribly broke for those industries....and healthcare is definitely one of them. When it seems like you're not getting enough competitive forces at work to keep profits low and prices low for essentially needed items there needs to be reform and change. I personally don't enjoy being strung up by my balls but that's what it seems like when it comes to paying for healthcare.
Empty rhetoric and fairy tale nonsense....I've just provided evidence as to the margins available to health insurers - the leader in net profit margin Aetna was 5.7%. Is that excessive? Low profits means low number of providers....who is going to provide a service that they can't get paid for? Question for you, if they can't earn adequate returns, they will not provide the service or the product.....in that case, who's going to provide it?
I don't know the business well enough to know if 5.7% is a good number. In the oil business that would represent a trillion dollars of profit. My point remains that essential family expenses are breaking this country and there needs to be someone monitoring those expenses or slimeballs like Rick Scott will seek ways to build upon those expenses in the quest for higher profits.
What isn't essential to a family? Housing...controls there? Food...nothing more essential than this, so it should be controled Gas...same Cars...same Clothing...same Medical/Dental/Healthcare...same I guess we can leave out the boating industry, the motorcycle industry. Not much left that you don't want govt controls.
Unfortunately for you Terry dental care is taking a hit because it's viewed as an expense that can be avoided even though it shouldn't be in part because so many plans leave a great percentage of the bill to the patient and it's getting worse. With cars......you have a great many choices including most especially used. Same thing with clothes and furniture or anything that can be found at thrift stores etc. There are choices as well with food. By the sales and coupon items and cook at home. Choices that you can make. But healthcare and energy? You're screwed and at the mercy of those that want to hijack your wallet.
:roll: :roll: :roll: 5.7% is the relevant number....it tells you that it is a thin margin business and as such they can't possibly be ripping anybody off - over 94% of their revenues are going to somebody else....so what if 5.7% is a big number in $$$ terms, it also tells you that their investment and capital requirements to continue to operate the business are large as well.....if the returns to investors after ongoing capital requirements are not adequate, you will have no investors....no investors, no capital. No capital, no growth, no growth, no jobs, no growth and no jobs = Greece, Spain, Italy with France on deck..... Well done.... AS Stu and others have indicated time after time, the fundamental reasons for escalating health care costs have nothing to do with the insurance carriers, yet that is the ONLY thing that Obama chose to address.....he did NOTHING about the cost of healthcare. NOTHING...
Dave, Do you not understand what profit margin means? In the case of Health Insurance, at 5.7% margin, if they have that hypothetical profit of a trillion dollars, do you realize what their expenses are? The answer is 17.549 trillion dollars. That means that they have to work 17.549 years to bank the operating expenses for only one year. If you think that is excessive, do you know what the minimum profit margin is for a small business to make it in the world today? If a mom and pop auto parts store opens the door on main street USA, they pay "jobber" price from a warehouse for their merchandise. They sell to the larger garages at "stocking dealer" price which averages 23% gross profit margin. They sell to the smaller garages that buy less from them at "dealer" price which averages 28% gross profit margin. Most jobbers sell to the walk in business at 5 to 7% under "list" (list is the price that the garage will sell the part to the customer and also charge labor to install). That walk in customer is paying around 33% gross profit margin. A jobber must average about 30% gross profit margin to make a net profit of 7% to support a three person operation (standard for mom and pop auto parts store). Even at 7% after all expenses (with average volume considered), it will take approximately 7 years to pay off the initial investment. 4.5 years if they had the cash to invest in the beginning without having to finance. You can't just look at profit. What does it take to make that profit?
Tom...you missed my point. I was saying 5.7% could translate into huge dollars if for instance the revenues were comparable to the oil industry.....in which a 5.7% margin is tremendous and would generate that trillion dollars I'm talking about. In any event for most Americans healthcare expense is at the apex of affordability and anything more will just generate more unisured Americans because people just cannot afford it. If there's greed and exorbitant profit taking anywhere in the mix it needs to be forcibly stopped. A provision of the Affordable Healthcare Act is that an 80% minimum of premiums must be spent on the healthcare itself....which is at least an attempt to prevent unjustifiable price hikes. The law also stipulates that any premium price hike must be publicly justified.
Tom did not miss your point at all. He tried to educate you in the capitalist way of doing business. You don't see at all that your mindset is socialistic, do you?
Put it this way Sid.....I have been business for 35 years.....I understand margins completely and I understand every business has a different objective to meet when it comes to the profit margin based on competitive market pressures and the cost of doing business. In the case of healthcare and oil revenues are through the roof....driven by a captive market that is susceptible to predatory pricing because of the true lack of competitive choices. That is a dangerous situation for the consumer.
In the case of the price of gas, it is driving those consumers who are concerned to more economical transportation with 4 cyclinder engines or using public transportation. Here in Houston the Park 'n Rides are very popular with people who live in the burbs and work downtown. Still plenty of course to clog the freeways, but if you are looking for options they are there.
Don't forget cell phones. You and I and anyone who has one pays a Universal Access fee on their bill that provides the have nots with free phones and minutes. Now they can drive slowly and talk on the phone in front of you all the time.