August 5, 2008 10:00AM
Can we *really* insure every single American?
By Liz Claman
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It’s a question I asked Humana (HUM) CEO Mike McCallister on “Countdown to the Closing Bell” just after his company had issued a quarterly report that showed net income fell due to rising costs. (the stock soared though, because it beat estimates, plus the company guided higher for the year.)
I want you to see his response. I want you to know that when we put company leaders on the air, it’s not to give you, the viewer, just an antiseptic “analyst-call-on-t.v.” but rather, an opportunity to see the people who really run these companies…how they feel about the bigger issues. And you don’t need to be reminded that we’ve got a Presidential election coming up so I asked him how Washington can get universal healthcare right. I think you’ll appreciate his candid answers. Listen in, and then give me your thoughts.
–Liz
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Insure every american,rich,poor and middle class?
Honestly if the Federal Goverment,any insurance corporation took such an approach like this. I can’t help think of bankruptcy. High taxes. But in the end I can’t help but of thinking if feds did this–they would go bankrupt.
Now if the insurance corporations were to do this,how would thier shareholders respond? The only solution I see from a plan like this is: that all the Insurance Corporations morphed into a huge comglerate to handle the costs of varied insurances policies. But insure every american would honestly be a daunting task.
Liz,
I agreee that everybody should get some form of insurance weather it is long term catastophic insurance or regular insurance. What I am tired of hearing is that we are a wealthy nation so that spending other people money from the gov’t is the answer. The truth is that today we have a $10 trillion dollar that $10,000,000,000,000 debt. Look at all those zeros and tell me that we are able to insure everyone.
I have some ideas myself. Stop frivolous lawsuits. I would like to find as many uninsured as I could and tell them to get into a group first go to your local insurance agent and tell him that you are going to insure us for $10 a month, then get into their cars and go to a doctor (general practioner) and as a group tell the Dr. that you are going to treat us every six months for $10. How many of us go to the Dr and all we have done is a blood pressure test and our tempature is taken. When they leave the Dr’s office they go to the Pharmasist and tell him that you are going to give us our generic drugs for $10. How you work that out with the drug company is your headache. Allow Phizer and SmithKlien Beecham and other drug makers to fully right off any R&D cost immediately. Lastly institute a flat tax of 5% (no loopholes, no deductions) to every man woman and child working including corporations, Partnerships, and Sole Proprietorships. I would then cut out the Federal Dept of Commerce, Energy, Labor, Education, Interior, Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development. Each of these Departments have a state componant so let them run them.
Since we are in a war with radical Islam increase the federal flat tax to 10% until the war is over.