Jim Kimmel to John Curry: Are we going to have a health plan?

From: Jim Kimmel
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Subject: Re: Are we going to have a health plan?
John:

The question that needs to be asked is WHY health insurance costs and medical costs seem to be going up.

It is also interesting that STRS is apparently on the forefront of leading the pack when it comes to eliminating spousal subsidies. STRS is built on our money and supposedly has no "profit". In reality instead of "profit " for the management they have bonuses and perks. That is probably begging the question,though. On could understand Sears or P and G cutting benefits if bottom line is affected. But STRS apparently has its own bottom line which includes bonuses and excludes us- the owners!

Why are medical costs going up 20-30% or more a year ?

I always get the answer from my conservative business friends that new research and new discoveries are the reason. When you look at pharmacorporate profits though you wonder. If they only raised their prices proportionally to additional expenses caused by research costs and priced them to maintain a reasonable profit would not profits remain in the same approximate level ? Also does anyone know (probably not) the relationship of health insurance profits to claims ? Insurers guard their books more carefully than the CIA guards military secrets.

Of course health providers and health insurers are like two thieves (between whom there is little honor) who argue and fight until a turkey to pluck comes along. That victim is seniors with retirement money and a need for care. If an investigator with the proper training analyzed all this- profits, real costs to insurers, bonuses and salaries, benefits to executives and employees we would see why all this goes up so much each year.

As long as Governor Daft on up are in power you can forget any such study. Bush is the first president to have an MBA and he thinks on the narrow wavelength MBA training develops. And whenever ANYONE suggests that profits are too high or that regulations need to be enacted to make sure the free market does not careen out of control (it has)- there is an outcry similar to that heard when an adult takes loaded pistols away from 7 year olds. They just wanted to" play cowboy", after all- never mind hurting many people. Deregulation has been a license to steal, maim, and kill. I just hope soon that the adults take over for a while! Like maybe in 06 and 08 !

Jim K