Insurance companies are not the problem

Here's a message for President Obama and all his lemmings. Your attempt to make the health care debate all about insurance companies is both disingenuous and a big lie. You know better, but the public only knows what the gullible or complicit media tells them.

The 50 state insurance commissioners, who currently regulate these insurance companies, do a pretty good job regulating rates charged, coverages offered, profitability, solvency, etc. Just ask the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) or the industry association, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). The reason they do not protest more vigorously is that neither they nor any one else want to be seen as defending the insurance companies against the bully pulpit of the President and the media seems content to be sucked right into this big lie.

The fact that health insurance companies in 2009, a somewhat typical year, only made a 2.2 percent average profit and ranked 88th as an industry in profitability does not seem to matter.

In addition, but never mentioned by the President or others, is the fact that two-thirds of our population under 65 get their health insurance through their employers. Most of these employers are self insured and only use the insurance companies to process claims and purchase excess levels of coverage.

The coverage offered by the insurance companies is dictated by the employers. They could waive pre-existing limits, cover all sorts of additional health issues, etc., but of course, the premiums, or should I just say claims, would go sky high. Someone has to pay. There is no free lunch with health care and now that the more efficient federal government will be much more involved, does anyone really think health care will become less expensive?

What a national travesty we are being sucked into.

Roland G. Ley

Arlington Heights