08-05-2009, 03:34 PM
Much of this discussion (well, at least the posts that don't include personal attacks) deal with accountability.
Private, for-profit health insurance is set up to benefit shareholders. Not patients. Shareholders.
Pharmaceutical companies are set up to benefit shareholders. Not patients, shareholders.
Horizon BCBS, the largest health insurer in my state that is legally a nonprofit, pays its CEO some $6 million annually and is being accused of pressuring patients to leave the hospital early so it can save some dough. http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/ind...299310.xml&coll=1
Horizon also has been accused of awarding bonuses to reps who drop patients.
And Big Pharma isn't much better. If you're a doctor or patient looking for objective answers on your medical condition, be aware that Wyeth is under investigation for hiring medical-writing firms to ghostwrite articles that appeared in seemingly objective medical journals but included only the name of a scientific researcher as the author. http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/ind...299310.xml&coll=1
And if you're looking for some number crunching on the cost of public vs. private health care, I'd recommend you avoid Lewin Group. Lewin is part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data and covering up data that didn't reflect Lewin's corporate parent favorably.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...s_politics
Private, for-profit health insurance is set up to benefit shareholders. Not patients. Shareholders.
Pharmaceutical companies are set up to benefit shareholders. Not patients, shareholders.
Horizon BCBS, the largest health insurer in my state that is legally a nonprofit, pays its CEO some $6 million annually and is being accused of pressuring patients to leave the hospital early so it can save some dough. http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/ind...299310.xml&coll=1
Horizon also has been accused of awarding bonuses to reps who drop patients.
And Big Pharma isn't much better. If you're a doctor or patient looking for objective answers on your medical condition, be aware that Wyeth is under investigation for hiring medical-writing firms to ghostwrite articles that appeared in seemingly objective medical journals but included only the name of a scientific researcher as the author. http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/ind...299310.xml&coll=1
And if you're looking for some number crunching on the cost of public vs. private health care, I'd recommend you avoid Lewin Group. Lewin is part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data and covering up data that didn't reflect Lewin's corporate parent favorably.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...s_politics