Health Insurance Grifters At It Again
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Happy Thursday Advocates
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Insurance Company Pilfering
Currently the US pays more per person for healthcare than anywhere else in the world and more as a percentage of GDP. We are at about $12,555/person and about 18% of GDP. Our peer industrialized nations, with various kinds of Universal Healthcare, are between 8% and 12% of GDP and Switzerland is second highest at about $8000/person. Here is a reference report of the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) data.
Even the non partisan Congressional Budget Office, who model costs and effects for everything Congress can imagine, found that covering everyone in the US was cheaper by a lot, than we spend now. There were $400 billion in yearly savings due to excess overhead and another $200 billion in pharmacy savings. That’s 15%!!! Here is a link to their report.
I’ve just discovered more savings to be had. The source is an investigative report by Propublica. Here’s the situation. Medical providers like to be paid for their services as soon as possible. A lot of us like that. I used to have my paycheck automatically deposited into my bank account. I got to use the money right away. No going to the bank, no waiting for checks to clear. And my employer liked it too. It is far cheaper to automatically deposit than it is to cut a paper check.
Up until 2017 there was a government healthcare insurance regulation in place that precluded insurance companies from charging a service fee when they paid health insurance claims electronically. Mysteriously, in 2017, the rule disappeared from the government website. Back door shenanigans got people in the Trump administration to remove the rule and now insurance companies deduct 1.5% to 5% from payments they make to healthcare providers. What a scam. It will cost less to transfer the money electronically and I will charge you for the privilege.
But that’s precisely what’s happening. Almost 60% of medical practices said they were compelled to pay fees for electronic payment at least some of the time, according to a 2021 survey. And the frequency has increased since then, according to medical clinics. With more than $2 trillion in medical claims being paid electronically each year, these fees likely add up to tens of billions of dollars annually.
The shift from paper to electronic processing, which began in the early 2000s and accelerated after the Affordable Care Act went into effect, was intended to increase efficiency and save money. The story of how a cost-saving initiative ended up benefiting private insurers reveals a lot about what ails the U.S. medical system and why Americans pay more for health care than people in other developed countries. In this case, it took less than a decade for a new industry of middlemen, owned by private equity funds and giant conglomerates like UnitedHealth Group, to cash in.
OK. I spent some time combing through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services websites for providers and while they encourage electronic claims for Medicare and Electronic Funds Transfer to pay for those claims, it seems that the government does not charge for the service.
Face it Universal Health Care covers more people for less, cradle to grave, and eliminates cheating everywhere. Let’s remind our representatives.
ACTION
Use RESISTBOT on your cell phone by texting SIGN PEZDQK to 50409 to send the message below to your Congressperson and Senators and the President. Or call/email them - their contact info is in the resources section below.
I am your constituent and I am outraged. I just learned that during the Trump Administration Health Insurers were allowed to charge a fee when they paid claims electronically to medical providers, like my doctor or hospital. They charge between 1.5% and 5% of the TWO TRILLION DOLLARS paid electronically every year. That’s 10s of billions of dollars that could help sick people being given to insurance companies. I also discovered that when the US government pays claims electronically THEY DON’T CHARGE FEES.
I want you to enact the much improved Medicare for All, HR 3421. It saves hundreds of billions a year, covers us all cradle to grave, makes industry more competitive and builds out the rural healthcare infrastructure. Saves money and saves lives, what are you waiting for? Thank you.
RESOURCES
Healthcare Advocacy (Us)
Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare
Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Find My Elected Officials
Contact the White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Contact State and Federal Representatives
https://www.commoncause.org/find-your-representative/addr/
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Plan
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. NARAL’s abortion resource
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org