Did you get a raise in 2009? CEOs of the US’s largest health insurers most certainly did; CIGNA, UnitedHealth, Humana and Wellpoint. In fact, as a reward for many years of excessive hikes to insurance premiums executed under his leadership, Edward Hanway, the former CEO of CIGNA was provided with a retirement package worth $110.9 million, paid for by the excessive and unnecessarily high insurance premiums billed to CIGNA’s policy holders. Perhaps now one realizes why some Americans who can afford health insurance opt out of it. After all, why would anyone want to pay for a health insurance policy that’s subject to double-digit premium hikes each year? While they may be able to afford the premiums now (when they are relatively young and healthy) they have no idea what the premiums will be in say twenty years when their medical risk is much higher. Given the extremely high inflation rate in premiums, these individuals figure they might not be able to afford health insurance down the road, when they are more likely to have medical problems. Therefore, some Americans view health insurance as a waste of money.
When you’ve transformed a public service like healthcare into a business, higher profits arise from only two sources; higher premiums and lower benefits. Make no mistake. The health insurance industry is using both mechanisms as a means to boost profits. This is adding to the financial misery of the nation. Washington knows this, but similar to their response to the banks which caused the global economic collapse; the industry is being shuttled even more power and money.
For more: America’s Healthcare Mafia Strikes Again :: The Market Oracle :: Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting Free Website
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