You probably won't read about Humana's latest dirty trick in the Kentucky media because it happened in Dayton, Ohio:
"Dropping this little bombshell at the end of the year makes it nearly impossible to move Humana insureds to other carriers by the first of January, leaving them vulnerable to out-of-network charges at the height of cold, flu and accident season."
"This is unconscionable."
You can read the whole story by clicking here.
The usual suspects will respond to this with some variation of "See, government should be in charge of healthcare decisions and this wouldn't happen!"
But government has more than it can handle nationalizing banks and car makers and cities and states to pay much attention to the healthcare system -- fortunately. So a market solution may have a chance.
Kentucky could protect its citizens from Humana by blasting the company to bits. But that would just empower Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield to do something similar.
Actively encouraging more insurers to come into the state and giving them more freedom to meet customer needs is the only way.
Something like 2007's SB 135, which went nowhere back then, could help bring in more competition.
Kentucky's painful experience has shown us the damage a power-mad government can do to healthcare consumers. Empowering firms to self-regulate by maintaining vigorous competition is the best way to go.
4 comments:
Hi David!
First, Thank You for the link!
Second, your point about "blasting Humana to bits" vs empowering BC/BS to emulate them is absolutely spot on.
I was VERY happy to begin placing more biz with Humana, in an effort to at least TRY to break the Anthem stranglehold, and this is how we're repaid.
I really need to connect with some home office critter there for an explanation.
Happy Holidays!
Another unregulated "market solution" is a prescription for failure.
Private sector health insurance is another scam for an unnecessary and costly middleman. They still have too many excuses for denying coverage. That excuse amounts to saying that their "bottom line" is more important than paying for health care.
As far as having the necessary revenues, until a proportional tax system is in place, revenues will never be sufficient.
Too, until the Governor and Kentucky General Assembly decide that they should aggressively pursue Kentucky's agriculture development by legalizing hemp, it's unlikely Kentucky will ever have enough revenue to meet it obligations.
For more information about hemp's economic potential, here's a YouTube video that explains its history, potential and reasons for its criminalization.
Educate yourself and enjoy. http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/505.html
Hempy,
I can't begin to imagine why you are so hostile to market forces.
Eliminating the ridiculous Certificate of Need process and relaxing regulatory barriers that stifle competition would do wonders for the state of health insurance in this state. And it wouldn't cost the taxpayers a penny.
There are plenty of health insurance carriers in this nation. The fact that only 2 are willing to compete in KY is a pretty damn strong indicator that, as a state, we are doing something wrong. Could it be more obvious?
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