Could WE bankrupt the insurance industry?

I've been working on a "General Strike" idea for a while... trying to figure out how we the people could simply cut the blood supply to the insurance industry. Now, there are folks who need treatment, need to keep their insurance, need chemo or surgery or whatever. Then there are the millions of us who aren't sick, but we're responsible, so we insure ourselves at outrageous rates. Most of us could afford an annual checkup, pap smear and mammogram or colonoscopy for far less than the $8-10K we are paying in insurance.
I say all of us who are well, start a groundswell and STOP PAYING OUR PREMIUMS. The people who need expensive health care CONTINUE TO PAY their premiums and the insurance companies HAVE to pay for their care, as they should.
Let's bankrupt the leeches. Let's suck their blood right out of their veins.
It's a general strike. Stop paying your premiums. Tell your doctors you will pay THEM directly for well care and annual checkups. Let's have the doctors who support single payer join us in support by giving us payment plans and special rates.
Let's make "SINGLE PAYER" happen by default. Let's bankrupt the Health Care Insurance Industry -- they deserve it.

Then let's say "OHHHH FUCKKKKK".

changes only made at "open enrollment" time. My individual plan s 100% paid by my employer. I certainly won't cancel that. I can't imagine people with employer-sponsored plans canceling their insurance, when their employer pays a good chunk toward it.

Welcome peanut!
A breath of freshhhhhhhhhh air! I worked in insurance for 8 years. What a rip-off it is!

It follows that the prices for everything would go up under your scenario.

The mandate is going to make it illegal not to do this.

The real test will be a massive C.D. campaign against the private mandate and people are already pledging in comments on blogs to not purchase the insurer's defective product, not pay the fine, and go to jail.

That's what the next phase is going to be once the bill passes.

The mandate is the bailout. If we fail to pass this bill, the insurance companies will be bankrupted in a few short years. This is, I believe, the precise reason health care reform came up at this point in history. The industry wanted this done while they still maintained the illusion that they are holding all the cards before the public figures out the precarious position the industry is in and that this is another fat cat bailout.

for all the yayayayayaya around here about what blood suckers the insurance companies are, us sick people need them.

Insurance companies serve no purpose at all.

They collect $100 in premiums, waste $30, save $10 as profit, and paid $60 in claims.

Rather than paying the $100 why not just pay the $60.


I don't think the OP plan will work but to think health insurance companies serve any purpose whatsoever is stupid.

They are like the mob skimming a little off each business as "protection money" without providing anything close to a real service.

or come close to it.

How would they enforce that??

your the terms of your mortgage. If you own your home I don't think it is mandatory, stupid not to have it, but not mandatory.

On the other hand most state government require auto insurance, but on the other hand you are not required to own a car and drive it by the government.

I have no problem with insurance in general.

Life Insurance, Homeowners insurance, Auto Insurance, they at least provide a service and generate value beyond taking a cut off each claim.

NON-PROFIT Health Care Insurance Companies would provide at least a 30% savings in insurance costs right off the top; operating much like NON-PROFIT Credit Unions in the financial world. If payments to hospitals, doctors and Big Pharma were capped or had price controls further cost savings would be realized. There are solutions to the high cost of health care BUT our congresspeople and senators don't have enough balls, guts or brains to get the job done. Can't think of a better reason to fire all of them in the voting booth.

Non profit still means massive pay for those at the top.

How do they get the earnings to make those massive paychecks..... by denying claims, reducing payments, making system complex.
However denying claims is expensive (look at the administrative overhead on insurance companies).

Thus even without profit a huge amount of money is wasted.

Aetna profit margin is just 3.6%. It's overhead is 18%. If Aetna changed to a non-profit that would eliminate the 3% profit going to shareholders but the much larger issue is the administrative overhead.

Total Revenue 34,764.10 Million
Selling/General/Admin. Expenses, Total 6,383.00 Million
Net Income 1,276.5 Million

So in layman terms Aetna collected 34 billion in premiums.

To process that money they spent 6 billion in expenses which is pure insanity.
After paying all claims they made 1.2 billion in profit.

Health Insurance companies are not even that good at making money. Most companies would be ashamed at making 3.6% margin on a captive audience when they are a monopoly.

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:AET&fstype=ii

Who the #@*% do these bastards and bitches think they are?

Who the #@*% do these bastards and bitches think they are?

the thousands and thousands of innocent insurance company workers that you would put on the unemployment line??

Individuals can choose that and at least where I work I have a few options and never pick the for-profits.

I've been thinking about this whenever people suggest we "starve" the insurance companies.

What if we went in the opposite direction to bankrupt them? Suppose EVERYONE (who can afford the copay) made an appointment to see a doctor next month? The insurance companies are now on the hook for paying their share of those visits. How many months could we do this in a row before they scream uncle?

Is this a viable idea?

I think more people would be willing to see a doctor on a routine visit to make a point than are willing to give up their insurance to make a point.

I can't just stop paying any time I want. Under section 125 I can only drop my health insurance during open enrollment unless I leave my job, so I'm stuck with it until Jan 1 2011.

But I can tell you this, unless something changes drastically between now and then, this will be my family's last year with health insurance. I should have dropped it this year but decided to hang on and see what "reform" would bring. No more, I cannot afford another increase :(

...except for the fact that most people in the United States today live in a perpetual state of fear.

Fear of getting cancer (and a multitude of other diseases and conditions).

Fear of having an accident.

Fear of terrorists.

Fear of going broke.

Fear of the "other party" gaining control of our government.

I could go on and on - you get the idea.

Fear is what is used to control us.

Unfortunately, this approach appears to work quite well. Better than conquest. Better than the divine right of kings. Better, even, than religion.

a pre-existing condition and you get to die early because you don't have health insurance!

sorry. As much as I want single-payer, this would be a disaster.