Private health insurance companies could have CHOSEN long ago to be ethical companies who:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

could have tempered profit motives given the incredible responsibility they were given to be the primary deliverer of a neccessity of human life for the American public. They were'nt up to the challenge.

They could have:

*restrained executive compensation

*covered all who needed it, with company rebates or discounts if necessary

*not had policies like retracted approvals for procedures already practiced, or prior conditons, or cherry picking, or recission, or outright denial of coverage. They could have given personal policy holders outside of groups some respect and dignity and not just cut them off when they needed benfits the most.

*They could have devoted the zillions of dollars they spend on lobbying towards actual patient care.

They CHOSE not to do these things. They have thrived too long in an atmosphere of laissez-faire and little or no oversight or regulation or competition. They are driven by greed and profits and they cannot change their essential nature and structure and it is foolish and disingenous for politicians who pretend they expect them to do so.

Game over. Permanently. Sad. They actually had a chance to prove that private interests and capitalism could provide a superior product at a reduced cost (the Holy Grail of Capitalism) and they FAILED. They FAILED. Our country spends more and gets less and rates very low on the scale of comparative healthcare. Could I say it once again? They FAILED.

But we have to keep them alive and we can't have an "unfair" public option because . . . . .

[babylonsister]

1. Ya got me with using health insurance companies and ethics

in one sentence. We KNOW they don't have any. It's all the bottom $ line. Seems to be that way for way too many Dems, too. :(

[JimWis]

2. I agree. They had their chance and blew it. Greed overcomes again.