cannedjam

It’s the goal of every business, grow and make a profit. However, congress has made it clear that becoming too big and too successful and pursuing profit making activities is anti-American, and they won’t let it happen on their watch.

First it was the oil companies and their evil plot to turn a profit. How dare they make money by selling their oil when so many Americans are struggling to afford it. Then it was the banks. How dare they charge interest on loans and assess risk in assigning costs, how dare they protect their bottom line and make it more difficult for people to “buy” a home when they can’t afford one. Now its the insurance companies. How dare they not give away free health coverage, and how dare they not accept people who are uninsurable. How dare they make a profit while people are getting sick, while people are dying. How dare they.

The insurance companies make billions of dollars, surely they can afford to hand out health care to those who need it. What, you have cancer and it will cost $100,000 a year to keep you alive? Sure come on board, just pay us the same $20 a week all these healthy people are paying, makes perfect sense to us. What, you don’t have insurance but were just hit by a bus? Sure, sign right here, you sound like a good investment, just give us a $15 dollar co-pay. Smoke? 200 lbs over weight? Drink like a fish? We’re just giving health care away - we have no obligation to our existing customers to keep costs down, we have no obligation to remain fiscally responsible, don’t worry about it we make billions of dollars.

If congress and the president get their way that’s the business model the industry will be forced to adopt.

Nancy Pelosi says the industry as it stands is evil because they make a profit, “they take advantage of the sick” and shame on them for fighting the legislation that would result in their certain demise. Shame on the insurance companies for protecting their business, protecting their share holders and protecting their existing customers.

Here’s a little story. 100 years ago a man started a business, put everything on the line and risked everything to get it off the ground. He made loans, and helped farmers buy equipment. He was successful so he branched out to insuring property. After a while he became so successful he started hiring sales agents, employed families and provided a good living to his employees. When things started going really well he branched out to multiple locations. When the automobile industry picked up he started insuring drivers, and when the medical industry emerged from its infancy he branched out again. He treated his customers well and they were happy to pay in exchange for the security he provided. He signed up more and more people, and thanks to the insurance model, he made it possible for thousands of people to get access to life saving medicine that they would otherwise not be able to afford. His company was a godsend.

His company grew and grew and some years later it was bringing in millions in profit, and providing thousands of people the security of insurance. More and more people had signed up until everyone who could afford it was covered by his company. But wait, there were still people who did not have insurance. Oh no! They could not afford it. Sure the health care they could afford was better and more advanced thanks to the money his insurance company had injected into the industry over the years, and sure these people were not any more worse off then they were before, when no one had insurance. But it’s not fair now, because some people can afford health insurance and some people can’t. It’s not fair! Who should we blame? We need to blame someone! Hmm… well I guess it’s not the fault of those who can afford insurance, they are hard working Americans, and surely it can’t be the fault of those who cant afford insurance, they are poor and just can’t help themselves. Hmmm….? I know! I know! It’s the fault of the insurance company! Yeah that’s right. They make a lot of money in profits, it wouldn’t be too much to ask for them to not make a profit in exchange for providing free health care to all those who can’t afford it. It’s the insurance company’s fault that not everyone has insurance, clearly they have the ability now to just pay for everyone.

His insurance company has become too big. Now that almost everyone has insurance they take it for granted that if not for his risks and his business everyone would be far worse off. But since his product has become so successful people can’t imagine living without it, they feel it is now theirs, it is their right to have it, the company has no right to take it away. The people depend on his product, those who don’t have it deserve it, those who can’t afford it deserve to have it paid for them. We can’t live without it. Let’s make it illegal for his company to deny anyone, lets make it illegal for him to not give it away for free. For the good of the people, lets squeeze this evil company, heck lets just take it over!

JAM Economics, Politics Health Care