Ucodegan, it appears you’re arguing against having insurance, that it’s cheaper just to pay discounted rates for care instead. In some cases I’m sure that’s correct. The whole idea of insurance (any kind of insurance) is to cover otherwise unaffordable losses. Anyone that has had to actually pay for hospital stays, or costs related to significant injury or illness understands this. Most people wouldn’t buy homeowners insurance to cover a baseball going through a windows. They buy it to cover the house burning down. It’s an entirely different discussion than I was having. But I’ll try to address your points.
What I am paying per month has nothing to with whether or not insurance companies pay full charges, which is what I believe you originally said. At least that’s what I was responding to. If I misunderstood you, we’ve totally been talking around each other.
Those charges were just mine. They didn’t include my prescription drug charges, which would run about $280/month, i pay $50. My employer pays approximately $450 per month for my premiums. After comissions and costs, I suspect the insurance company loses a small bit money on me every year. Which is why, if I lost my employer sponsored insurance, I would probably be uninsurable due to pre-existing conditions (all very controllable, but require regular maintenance. It’s a bitch getting old.) if I had to buy my own policy. Though I don’t think any of this is really material.
Processing insurance company claims is just “some” of the costs of running an office. It’s not immaterial, but it typically is less than 10% of revenues in small offices, much less for large organization. Doctors who complain that it costs more than that are doing it wrong. (I “taught” them how to do it for many years.)
Your final statement about the loss ratio is not even an argument I’ve ever seen made in the reform debate. Nor does it make any sense. Too much premium dollar goes to insurance company bottom line. That is the problem. That is why we need competition. It really is that simple.
