Can anyone Prove Health Insurers are Gouging Customers?

Seriously.

Everytime I read a pro-Obamacare article I see this sort of Statement.

Please, someone on the left explain to me

A)How the hell does HHS arbitrarily decide that a premium increase is "justified"

and

B)Where are there ANY economic studies or surveys that PROVE that insurance companies are gouging their customers?

I mean that is the primary complaint of the left, that insurance agencies are "greedy" and are gouging their customers.

I read the ACCUSATION all the time. But I never see any proof. Just accusations.

Does anyone have any economic surveys or other sources that PROVE that insurance agencies are gouging? Because I've not seen ONE.

The only thing I have ever seen in all this debate are specious, unprovable claims by democrats that it is happening.

Sorta like that whole "voter fraud" issue. Dems claim it isn't happening and that there's no proof its happening and no need to fix it. Yet Dems turn around and pull the exact same (*)(*)(*)(*) with insurance companies.

Prove to me that Insurance companies are gouging their customers and don't just use arbitrary standards like "I feel 12% increase in one year is unjustified".. use actual proof that shows insurance companies are gouging customers.

IMO, the TRUE costs of medical care for more than just basic 1940's style health care is simply prohibitive in the modern era with the introduction of expensive technology and paying for the radiologists to operate them, engineers to repair them, etc etc.

I think that most of these rate increases reflect the reality that health care really is more expensive than most people would like to admit.

 

I have family and friends that have worked a long time in the Health Care industry. It's not so much that they gouge customers with the cost of premiums, but rather denying coverage for any number of mysteriously inexplicable reasons.

Typically 'customers' are businesses that are paying to cover their employees. Ask them if they feel like they are getting gouged.

 

..and the court system can resolve virtually all such denials. In our sue happy culture, there is no shortage of lawyers willing to do so.

You don't understand.. It isn't about how people "feel"! It is about PROOF. You have to have numbers to back up your claims. You can't just arbitrarily say "its costing me a bunch of money! It must be greedy insurers gouging me!"

Your answer does not prove anything. It just makes the same claim the OP quote makes without any proof!

 

The easiest way is to look at the cost and compare it to the quality and coverage. The fact of the matter is the US doesn't have the best heathcare outside of the more wealthy. In fact it starts getting downright horrible.

For example the costs are 3x higher than Canada but Canada has a higher rating for most people middle class and lower. Rich people prefer America's system because they get the best in the world (but nobody below them gets that same quality).

EVEN considering that other countries pay higher taxes for their healthcare the average person still pays significantly less in those countries (Canada, the UK, etc).


The US has great healthcare for rich people and upper middle class. It's costly no matter how you look at it though. Just look at the numbers.

 

The medical system is already bogged down with litigation. Unburdening it should be a priority since courts don't heal sick people.

Wasn't trying to prove anything, just saying this specific question is better directed towards the people who actually pay the most for insurance coverage.

 

Next time you get a medical checkup/procedure or pick up a prescription ask the doctor how much it would be WITHOUT insurance (just paying cash). The answer may astonish you. My wife forgot her insurance card when she got her birth control medicine (very generic form of "the pill"). They said it was over $100 out-of-pocket, but $15 on insurance. Health insurance is expensive because health care is expensive, and health care is expensive for reasons already mentioned and the fact there's a huge disconnect between the consumer and the customer. Patients are consumers but they are not customers (insurance companies and the government via Medicare and Medicaid usually are).