What You Should Know About the Health Insurance Industry

Health insurance is a legal arrangement between an individual and an insurance company in which the insurer will pay for a portion of the person’s medical expenses. Boasting large revenue and profit, the health insurance industry contributes to the continuously expanding heath care sector. With the health insurance industry’s increasing profit margin, ethics and affordability become areas of major concern, both politically and publicly. What kind of future can the United States look forward to if there is no reform on the current health insurance industry?

Two types of health insurances that are currently available to the public are government-sponsored, such as Medicaid, which is offered to very low-income individuals and their families whom meet specific qualifications. The second type of health insurance is in the form of private companies, such as Health Net, which can be bought by individual consumers. Both types of insurances require payment. Medicaid is paid through taxes and Health Net is paid through premiums. Though the policies will differ for individuals based upon their health and economic status, health insurance in theory is aimed at keeping medical coverage accessible to individuals without bankrupting them.

One of the main problems with the United States health insurance industry is that the majority of people simply cannot afford health insurance. The majority and backbone of this great country are working class citizens who persevere through the daily-grind just to make ends meet. Adding pricey health insurance to the monthly bills is typically just not an option for the greater part of the population. Millions of people are living without health insurance due simply to the fact that they cannot afford health insurance that meet their needs. Many companies are also unable to offer adequate health insurance to their employees due to the high costs. According to the National Coalition on Health Care, 62% of all bankruptcies that were filed in 2007 were because of health expenses and an estimated 1.5 million people foreclose their homes each year because of medical expenses they cannot afford to pay.

Another concern within the health insurance industry is that human ethics are not at the industry’s backbone; profit is. Aetna CEO, Ronald Williams, raked in over $24 million in 2008. That is over $450,00 week! Most people cannot even afford to buy a home at that price. While CEO’s are making millions of dollars each year, roughly 37 million people are still going without health insurance and suffer greatly in the United States. The way the current system is operating suggests that adequate health coverage and treatment is a privilege to only those who can afford it, not a right for all. People have a distorted view that this country offers equality to all, and yet the less fortunate seem to somehow fall through the cracks. Since when does some one’s annual salary dictate an individual’s worth in life? As President Obama put it, instead of focusing on what will maximize profit, the health insurance industry needs to concentrate on what a descent society should do and offer for its people. Would a descent society discriminate against 12 million people annually for health coverage because they did not fit the criteria for being covered? This may come as a shock to a lot of people, but this is a common practice among America’s health insurance companies.

If there is not a major overhaul in the near future on the United State’s insurance industry, it will cripple the country. People who cannot afford health insurance do not go to the doctor for routine checkups or when they are not feeling well, instead they go to the emergency room when there is a dire situation and it is often too late. This is a very expensive form of treatment, leaving the government, aka American tax dollars, to pay for the uninsured people to be treated. If the insurance companies continue to discriminate against the sick and raise the cost of premiums, the United State’s deficit will continue spiral out of control.

Private health insurance companies try to generate this false sense of comfort to those who purchase their health plans, making people feel that they will be covered should the circumstance arise. When a medical emergency comes about, requiring costly treatment, insurance companies will try to find some kind of reason why they cannot pay the bill, for example due to a pre-existing medical condition. For those who are fortunate enough to afford health insurance or have health insurance through their employers often run into problems with limited coverage due to pre-existing conditions. The American people deserve access to affordable, quality health care. This should be a right, not a privilege.