Private health insurers agree to revise pricing, eligibility for pre-existing conditions

Let's watch for the smoke & mirrors. It will be very surprising if the privates actually realign their programs and pricing to be inline with Medicare or, the general parameters of a National Health Plan.

Private insurers will of course be more than happy to cover pre-existing conditions. They will just tag on another 500 dollars a month to everyone's premium. The serious problem is clearly 50% of the people who seek frequent care in medical practices are actually seriously ill. Obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome being the principal problems. Today "health insurance" is actually affordable for younger people under 40 and for those who are actuarially assessed to be low-risk for major expense to the insurance company. All these people will now be hit with the "consumption tax". A better way around this is to make the third party insurance system optional . Provide basic catastrophic care with limitation on life time dollar amount consumption per head- funded by federal and local taxes. Banish employer provided healthcare to make cost of doing business affordable. . Local taxes are essential as the irrational care decisions are often made at local level ( example feeding tubes and ventilators for brain dead). Malpractice lawyers need to find a different avocation. It is crazy that significant numbers of needless tests are done for medicolegal protection. Mandatory arbitration by trained professionals should become the norm in medical "malpractice" cases.
Third party insures should be allowed to compete for the non-mandatory health insurance segment.
There is nothing wrong with a multi-tiered healthcare system. It is impossible to do everything for everybody at discounted prices. Cost shifting is the true moral hazard.

Right, they feel the heat and now start welcoming pre existing. What a bunch of crap, and BCBS is the biggest one. Interestingly their "underwriters" in Jacksonville are so secret that they do not even have an extension! I called their executive offices about 6 months ago and they could not locate them! There is no extension in their employee phone book.
Anyway I digress. Blue cross BS are the cherrypickers of the world. Screw them i say.

Placing medical care and profit in the same sentence means that someone isnt getting the care that they need due to profit considerations. This is a moral question. When morals and money mix guess which one always loses? Doctors are given financial incentives not to make care expensive for the carrier- This is not a secret and blatantly wrong. People dying is more profitable than treating sick people. The system is rigged. Shouldn't the goal be health not profit. Just leave capitalism out of this area of importannce- No muthas, nucks or chains. There still will be enough money to keep people in the business.

Nixon and Permanente started the HMO idea- this was the worst thing to happen to us. Nobody likes socialism , its a bad word. Unless you give back your social security check, you probably like socialism. The army, library system, public schools, post office, police and fire dept's are all socialist.

The cure is simple - remove profit from the heathcare. Moraly and ethically. Thousands of times each day profit interferes with someone getting better. Dont give me the capitalist crap, it doesnt belong here, save it for every other money making opportunity. Some things just aren't good ideas- like turning food into fuel. lets get bright. regards Jim