The Health Insurance Game
This video is a skit written by supporters of HR 676 the single payer national health insurance bill in Congress (John Conyers - Michigan). All other industrialized countries have universal national health care. Their medical costs are far less than ours are in the United States but their health outcomes are as good or better. Americans have seen their health insurance premiums increase by 87% from 2000 to 2006 while their earnings only increased by 20% and the average rate of overall inflation was 18% during the same time period (Kaiser Family Foundation). Why does your health care cost so much? Data from the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy show that: 1. The top seven US health insurers earned a combined $10 billion dollars - nearly triple their profits of 5 years earlier (Wall Street Journal, August 2006). 2. In 2004 top executives of the 11 largest health insurers made a combined $85 million per year in one year (Weiss Reports). 3. The 20 largest HMOs in the US made $10.8 billion in profits in the fiscal year 2005. 12 top HMO executives pocketed $222.6 million in direct compensation in the fiscal year 2005. 4. Dr. William McGuire, CEO of UnitedHealthcare had $1.6 billion in exercisable options at the end of 2005 (CBN News, Oct. 16, 2006) in addition to his salary. 30%-35% of each dollar of your premium goes to pay for: executive salaries, administration, lobbying, marketing and other non-health care related costs. It’s time for privately delivered health …
Tags: william mcguire ceo, health insurance premiums, kaiser family foundation, Game, health insurance bill, health, national health insurance, cbn news, insurance
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look chumps,,
just PAY for MY HELF CAYA NOW…I be NEEB you to BUY my HELF CAYA for me an my byotches wid da helf problems and all dem kids be poppin out soze I can git me a good mj type doctor wid dem good trippin scrips soze i can kick da cough syrup man you know what i mean…now smile when i tole you dat man..it all be worf it man,,,,all be worf it…
And the MUTANTS will STILL not want to believe your not advocating socialism. Okay then, you can pay my premium AND wear a powdered wig while you do it.
H.I. is the enemy of working people, they’re MIDDLE MEN. They shuffle paper not treat patients you putz’s.
Oh, and, by the way-Great job on this video!
To begin with, healthcare reform would never have been an issue if the healthcare industry hadn’t put profits in place of (not even in front of, but in place of) people. Remember the girl who needed a liver transplant and didn’t get approved until she died? She died. You know, dead. As in game over and thanks for playing (and losing) our game. I’m not a fan of big Gov, but it’s interesting to me that anything that is privatized whether it’s automobiles or healthcare ends up killing the buyer.
We already are. We can be scammed by the government or by a handful of CEOs. Heed your own words. Arm yourself with knowledge, because youve already been taken advantage of.
I wanted to watch this video, but as soon as the offensive intro music came on I hit the stop button.
WHY f#$k up good stuff with crap like that?
I’m Canadian. Stop Bullshitting :)
Love the information in the side bar! Great Video!
Nice Scott Joplin soundtrack, too!
Ignorance in its purest form.
don’t be silly, thats the american system
we do not need to have goobers making a profit on suffering
how naive, have to make a profit? good god if we go anywhere near the government plan we will be trading health care for all for a failed health care system…
You have breast cancer? Well the treatment that is recommended for you is too costly. You’re claim is denied. You’ll die you say? Well that’s the way the life goes.
Think I’m exaggerating this point? Just research the Canadian health care. Arm yourself with knowledge or you will be taken advantage of.
Insurance co’s are frauds. They have relinquished all rights to have the field to themselves. Even the Republicans acknowledged that health care needed to be fixed, during the elections in 2008. It is time to take the corruption out of this.
Thanks
I just wear Alex Chiu’s immortality rings and H have no health problems what so ever. No health insurance needed.
Health insurance companies, HMOs, and pharmaceuticals get to play Gatekeeper. They fully regulate patients’ access, regardless of the doctor’s medical judgment. Good health insurance is almost always granted to high paid employees through the noblesse oblige of employers, most low end wage earners are doomed to losing the game, not just of health insurance, but also of health. Profiteers play God: Who will go broke? Who will have medicine? Who will be left to die?
HR 676 is not Obamacare. There is NO Obamacare. You are referring to the Mass. Model of reform (R-Mitt Rommney & Mass. Leg.) which is absolutely wrongheaded ‘cuz for-profit health plans make out like bandits ‘cuz they can charge whatever they want for whatever benefits they want & Mass. residents are mandated to buy the product. For-profit health plans & the politicians who support them are the problem. You can’t mandate buying insur. if you don’t heavily regulate private for-profit plans.
IN case YOU do not know–with Obamacare you are mandated to buy or face a hefty fine. Read the fine point.
By that logic, if I dont like dirty air but thats all there is, I shouldnt breathe. All other industrialized nations cover everyone & have as good or better medical outcomes than the US. They have eliminated for-profit health plans & heavily regulate the nonprofit health plans. I am completely in favor of insurance companies selling coverage for auto, home, etc. & other optional commodities or services. No one should make money from denying healthcare which is how health plans make profit.
If you don’t like health insurance companies then just don’t buy it.
Good point. It’s easy for us who are comfortable to forget that just because we have good health insurance today is no guarantee of good health insurance tomorrow. We can easily join the ranks of the under and uninsured.
Now imagine how the uninsured or underinsured feel. A simple way to make we who are comfortable feel a little of the discomfort. Great beginning.
Thank you for supporting HR 676. For an elegant concise explanation of single payer & HR 676, go to “What is Single Payer” on YouTube. The creators won the Am. Med. Student Ass. HR 676 video contest. It’s excellent.