Loot while the lootin's good.

From this article:

And lest one forget, Obamacare hasn’t even gone into full effect and won’t until 2014.  Even still, under Mr. Obama, the average family’s health insurance premiums have risen $2,393.

Well, duh.

Once guaranteed issue and community rating go into effect, with or without the feeble individual mandate, there is no viable business model for the health-plan* companies.  The rising prices and diminishing customer base already have them in a death spiral; letting customers sign up for retroactive coverage at the proactive price kills the business off completely.

So, the executives need to line their pockets this year and next.

Don't expect any of this to trickle down to the common stockholders, though.  It appears that the health-plan business operates under the same accounting rules as the music and movie businesses.

It's all pillaging as usual for the Government-Financial Complex.

* I refuse to refer to this as "insurance."  Medical insurance covers stuff that might happen in the future, not routine expenses.  Think "major medical policy."  Oops!  Those are illegal now!  Just when the thrifty might be thinking of signing up for one!

 

Comments

[insurance in my area]

I think it's vital to reorganize our health insurance system in general. Lots of companies including hospitals and clinics are just making money on us. We should take an example from European countries like Norway, Switzerland etc. All their citizens have free social health insurance, which is paid by the government from the tax money. And everyone benefits from it! And now look at our system... oh, crap.

[Eric Wilner]

We certainly need reform, but there's no way we'll get it from the clowns in Washington.
Reform ought to be happening spontaneously, especially with the recession, but the entrenched cartels, with the aid of the government and the Pink Tribe, have managed to lock us into the broken system, even as it gets further broken.
And don't expect things to get any better when the system collapses in 2014 and gets bailed out and nationalized. Imagine this:

Access to health care that's as fast, convenient, and efficient as a visit to your local DMV office!
Doctors paid at Medicare rates! Yeah, that'll encourage them to stay in business, and prospective doctors to go to the time and expense of attending American medical schools....
No more malpractice suits! As government employees, doctors will have sovereign immunity. Even the incompetent ones.
A totally streamlined and efficient system for handling payments and managing costs! Just look at how military procurement works, and multiply by five or so.
The same healthcare for all! Well, except for the important people, who'll have special dispensation to use private clinics or the separate taxpayer-funded system reserved for the nomenklatura.

Yup. Total utopia.