Our Bass-Ackwards Health Care System, Or "Bend Over -- This Won't Hurt A Bit."

Yesterday it was reported that over 3 million health insurance policyholders and thousands of business will receive $1.3 billion in premium rebates/refunds this year. This is due to a provision in the ACA ("ObamaRomney Care") requiring insurers to spend a minimum of 80% of premiums on actual health care. If they don't, the insurance companies have to kick back the difference to customers.

Said Larry Leavitt, who studies the industry for the Kaiser Foundation, "This is one of the most tangible benefits of the health reform law that consumers will have seen to date."

Of course, the insurance industry sees it differently. A spokesperson for the industry's main PAC, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), said, "The net of all the requirements will be an increase in costs for consumers."

In other words, health insurers are telling us, "Even though we've been caught overcharging you, we'll find new and creative ways to maintain our excessive margins. One way or another, you're gonna pay, sucka!"

The attitude expressed, this contempt for anything other than maximizing the bottom line, is a good illustration of why the ACA was necessary and why there is still much more to do. When it comes to health coverage, our stubborn reliance on free-market principles and fee-for-service has created a monster. It's created a symbiotic vicious circle with doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies all feeding off one another and constantly driving prices up. Ultimately, it's the American consumer who pays. And it's the consumer who sometimes suffers. The industry itself seems to be quite healthy.

Entering into our health care system today is worse than going to a car dealership. You know you're gonna get fucked. The only questions are: By who? To what extent? How often?

The ACA is a good first step in the right direction. No matter what happens with the Roberts Court, we must keep pressing for lower costs and coverage for all. Maybe one of these days we'll join the rest of the world's advanced countries with a sensible health care system of our own.