What positive role do private health insurance companies provide in the U.S.? The U.S. spends almost twice as much money as other countries on health care and still has 47 million Americans uninsured, so they are apparently not saving us money. And if we believe that every American should have health insurance, wouldn't government provided single-payer health insurance provide the same benefits without the profit costs, administrative costs, and incentives to deny care inherent in coverage from private corporations?
Role of Health Insurance Companies
Tags: health care insurance
Comments (2)
The U.S. spends almost twice as much money as other countries on health care...
What do you mean?
Do you mean the U.S. consumer spends almost twice as much,
or do you mean the U.S. government spends almost twice as much?
In other countries, their governments pay for stuff with the taxpayers money, right?
They subsidize everything.
Total expenditures (tax dollars+private expenditures) per capita are almost twice as high in the U.S. as in most other countries and we still have 47 million uninsured Americans and lower lifespans and higher mortality rates than many orther industrialized countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care
In 2007, the U.S. spent $5,711 per capita in 2007. 44.6% of that was through the government. Canada spent $2,669 per capita (69.9% by government). France spent $2,981 per capita (76.3% by government) and is widely regarded as having the best health care system in the world.
Our system is designed to maximize health insurance profits not provide the best health care for our citizens. If we believe that every American should get basic health care, then I don't know how you cannot conclude that private insurance companies are an unnecessary middleman that skims off profits without providing any tangible benefit.