Sam Seder: Dirty Tricks of the Insurance Industry Exposed

Run time: 09:53 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKTh3yPZitI   Posted on YouTube: November 18, 2011 By YouTube Member: golefttv Views on YouTube: 3   Posted on DU: November 18, 2011 By DU Member: GoLeft TV Views on DU: 1242

 
The average American reads on a 6th to 8th grade level, something that the insurance industry is well-aware of. And because of this, the industry writes the literature regarding their policies on a collegiate level, making it virtually impossible for the vast majority of Americans to even comprehend, so they end up buying policies that they don’t even need. That’s just one of the dirty tricks that the industry is playing on American consumers, and Sam Seder discusses even more shady tactics by the insurance industry with Wendell Potter, author of the book “Deadly Spin.”

If you are ill, you need health care, not "coverage".

Even though we might 'know' this already, most of us still equate coverage to health care. Not necessarily so, as we keep hearing.

That is a good point to inject when talking about Single Payer, Universal Health Care.

- first and foremost, insurance policies have a zillion "outs" -- loopholes that let the insurance company not pay for things you thought were covered. they exploit the dramatic time difference between when you sign up and pay for the product and the time they actually have to deliver anything of value to you (a paid claim). by the time you realize their service and professionalism and cooperativeness and friendliness is not what satisfactory, you've already handed over years and years of premiums.

- second and less obviously, there is no upside to the insurance company for prompt claims payment. they have several incentives to deny and delay and obstruct the claims payment process. you might get tired of fighting and abandon your claim. you might settle for less than they owe you just to get the claim paid now instead of three years from now. or you might die before the claim is paid and unless your estate is aware, willing, and able to pick up the fight, they might just get off the hook completely. the WORST case is they have to pay 100% of what they owed all along -- but they get to keep months or years of interest while they were stalling.