Saturday, April 16, 2011

Another Leftist Meme Obliterated: 'Evil' Health Insurers Reject Far Less Health Care Claims Than... Medicare

You know, back in the day, Democrats and Donald Trump got lots of mileage out of the "Bush Lied" meme. But even a partial list of the current president's lies boggles the mind of an independent observer.

And when it comes to health care, among his favorite talking points are that health insurers are out to deny claims ("More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won’t pay the full cost of care. It happens every day.") and that Medicare is the most awesome health plan evah. Turns out, like so many of his fabrications, those assertions are pure, unmitigated horse manure.

According to the American Medical Association’s National Health Insurer Report Card for 2008, the government’s health plan, Medicare, denied medical claims at nearly double the average for private insurers: Medicare denied 6.85% of claims. The highest private insurance denier was Aetna @ 6.8%, followed by Anthem Blue Cross @ 3.44, with an average denial rate of medical claims by private insurers of 3.88%

In its 2009 National Health Insurer Report Card, the AMA reports that Medicare denied only 4% of claims—a big improvement, but outpaced better still by the private insurers. The prior year’s high private denier, Aetna, reduced denials to 1.81%—an astounding 75% improvement—with similar declines by all other private insurers, to average only 2.79%.

Maybe there’s something to be said for the need to keep your customers satisfied in order to make that profit after all.

Paul Ryan's budget plan is as good a start as any. It protects those in or near retirement and starts privatizing the rest. It offers means-tested subsidies for those truly in need and lets the free market (you know, drones -- competition) work its magic.

Ask any physician how they like Medicare and you're likely to get cursed at -- or worse. The data shows that Medicare and, by extension, Obamacare, are far worse for patients than private health insurance.

It's an immutable fact. Government-run health care combines the convenience of the Department of Motor Vehicles with the efficiency of a Poliburo-style central planning committee. The result will be a lawful Ponzi scheme that necessarily entails misery, rationing and premature deaths. Period.

History, logic, facts and reason are all on the side of conservatives. Conversely, hope, unicorns and mythology appear to be the only philosophical tenets of the modern, Soros-controlled Democrat Party.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

2 comments:

MRPKW said...

Sorry to nit pic Biff, but "defny" should be deny?

Destroying Obama's lies is just to easy these days.

Anonymous said...

when you cherry pick and deny coverage in the first place, you don't have to worry about denying claims.