IS THS UNITED STATES ALL THAT MUCH DIFFERENT FROM A TOTALITARIAN STATE?

Matt Taibbi writes in Taibblog that the US government is in the business of pandering to well-heeled insurance industry (and healthcare providers) while providing the illusion of “doing something” to address a national emergency.

Taibbi writes:

Our government doesn’t exist to protect voters from interests, it exists to protect interests from voters. The situation we have here is an angry and desperate population that at long last has voted in a majority that it believes should be able to pass a health care bill. It expects something to be done. The task of the lawmakers on the Hill, at least as they see things, is to create the appearance of having done something. And that’s what they’re doing. Personally, I think they’re doing a lousy job even of that.

HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS ARE LITTLE MORE THAN A “SKIM.”

Health insurance is not rocket science. An insurer estimates what the medical expenses will be (the losses), leaves a reserve to cover extraordinary losses, and then prices in administrative costs to administer the benefits. These administrative costs include marketing costs, costs to operate the plan, take in the premiums, and pay the claims. Money is also spent to determine who is covered and who is not covered. Money is also spent to deny claims that the insurer determines are not payable.

Medicare and Medicaid do the same thing on a much larger scale. Their administrative costs are much lower than private insurers. Medicare administrative costs are approximately 3%. But even the most well run insurance companies are lucky to keep administrative costs under 10-15%. Individual and small group insurers can have administrative costs as much as 30-40%.

This is the beauty of a single-payor plan. It drastically reduces the administrative costs and puts government in the position of monopsony purchaser of health benefits. It both reduces the cost of providing the services, and its unchecked bargaining power reduces the amount of the cost of services.

Most serious students of healthcare reform recognize the benefits it would provide. And the health insurance industry recognizes that it would effectively put them out of business.

And politicians recognize that they must protect their well-heeled benefactors from the voting rabble.

In totalitarian states, the government exists to protect the ruling elite from the desires of the masses of the people. In the United States, the government exists to protect the ruling elite from voters. What, precisely, is the difference?

WE RARELY MISS THE POINT IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL!