Blame providers, not insurers

President Obama's repeated attacks on the health insurance companies are always Page 1. The Oct. 26 story reveals the meager profits of these companies is buried inside the first section.

Why the disparate treatment? Another example of the media's bias? The fact is that the largest health insurer already is the government through Medicare. Most large employers are self-insured. Both of these are typically pass-through arrangements. They are also experiencing rising costs as dictated by the providers, so the fact is that it is not the insurance companies that are causing the health cost crisis. It is the health care providers.

For years, we the consumers, insulated by insurance from the impact of the costs of medical care, have demanded things that have no value as to the quality of care; our lawmakers have mandated more and more expensive features to placate their constituents and the providers are glad to provide them - at a cost. I cite the new, expensive palace of medical care being constructed on Randall Road where the interest and depreciation expenses alone will be about $150 per day per patient. I cite the fancy exam table in my father's doctor's office that cost more, by the doctor's admission, than my most recent car purchase.

I am all for expanding medical coverage, but I feel that our president and his advisers are sorely misinformed as to the root causes of the rise in health care cost and the simplistic fix such as they are now proposing will be a disaster unless they come to grips with the system abuses recited above first.

Raymond Bellock

Sleepy Hollow