We could have improved the quality and reduced the cost of the healthcare system by $900 billion…I said we would do it for free to prove that it works. They turned us down.
–Samuel J. Palmisano, the Chairman of the Board and CEO of IBM
Hat Tip (and video link for quote): John Goodman's Health Policy Blog
3 comments:
Why dosn't IBM offer a counterplan which we can opt for or not. Of course, I know the answer. We geezers have Medicare and by law, no other insurance co. can offer us health insurance. They have a monopoly and are still hemorrhaging money and are demanding even more of the pie.
You can augment Medicare with other insurance. You can also refuse Medicare and use other insurance instead. What you can't do is get money back for all those years of Medicare deductions. I can't opt out either, and I'm near the cusp where it's not clear I'll ever receive Medicare benefits because it'll be close to bankruptcy by that point.
Are you thinking of HMO's?
I haven't checked lately, but when we became 65 twelve years ago, we learned that by law no insurance company could sell us health insurance, other than a supplemental policy.
I did a bit of research at the time and a family member who is married to the head of a major HMO in the northeast confirmed that was true.
Things may have changed, but I'm too old and tired to fight anymore.
By the time you're eligible, I sure hope you won't have to face Obamacare or worse.
My husband had to go to the ER in Paris about 20 years ago. Luckily it wasn't a serious problem and we were able to fly home as planned the next day because conditions weren't to be believed.
I thought I was in a Woody Allen movie, but it wasn't a bit funny at the time.
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