Insurance Companies Ready Themselves for the Battle over Profits

The insurance industry in the United States of America is actively recruiting and hiring and training LOBBYISTS in huge numbers to ready themselves for the shit-storm that the American people and HOPEFULLY their elected Representatives are about to lay down on them in the very near future.

As we are all well aware, medical insurance and the FOR PROFIT Insurance Corporations in the U.S. are out of control.  Millions of citizens are not insured at all, most citizens that do have some sort of medical insurance are under-insured and the sky-rocketing costs of medical insurance are becoming more and more prohibitive for the average American worker.  Add to that fact that employer based medical insurance is where most Americans recieve their insurance package and then consider the rising unemployment issue in this country, and things can only go from horrible to completely unacceptable.

In an essay I submitted yesterday, US slips down development index, Citizens live shorter lives, we discussed the fact that the citizens of America are now only 42nd among countries in the world regarding life expectancy, even though we spend more money per person on medical care than any other country in the world.

At some point, it should become obvious to even the Insurance Corporations that we are simply not getting our money’s worth with that dismal track record.  Yet, they simply don’t care.  The bottom line is profit, and they are going to spend an incredible amount of their profits on Lobbyists to make sure that no matter the quality of health care U.S. citizens might or might not receive is made to be a moot point.  Their continued profits are all they care about and they are going to fight tooth and nail to make sure those profits continue to flow into their coffers.

From Politico:

Insurance industry forming activist army

Ahead of the approaching health care reform storm, the insurance industry is building an ark: a nationwide education campaign aimed at raising an activist army at least 100,000 strong.

The unprecedented effort by America’s Health Insurance Plans, called the Campaign for an American Solution, includes a nationwide listening tour, advertising and an intense recruitment effort aimed at signing up Americans who are satisfied with their private insurance coverage. AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni plans to launch the campaign Tuesday by hosting a discussion among a group of uninsured people in Columbus, Ohio.

“On an issue as big and far-reaching as health care reform, you need to be working with real people and you need to have a reach outside the Beltway,” AHIP spokesman Michael Tuffin told Politico in an interview outlining the industry’s strategy. “The issue isn’t going to be settled just by lobbyists in Washington. The American people are going to have their say.”

The massive outreach is AHIP’s attempt to drive debate in a political climate that has had the industry on the defensive since Democrats took control of Congress last year.

 My emphasis

Campaign for an American Solution?  It sounds more to me like the Campaign for a Lobbyist Payday, and Americans be damned.  

What do you, dear reader, think will come from a “listening tour” put on by the Insurance Corporations?  

Will they listen to American citizens that have been told that they are not eligible for life saving medical procedures because the insurance industry thinks they will not meet their quarterly profit goals for their stockholders?

Will they listen to American citizens that are unable to afford medical insurance due to unemployment or perhaps the fact that with the prices of energy and food, they are only barely able to transport themselves back and forth to work to make enough money to feed, clothe and keep a HEATED home over their families heads?

Will the listen to American citizens, or will they listen to the Republican and or other bought and paid for plants they have in the audience that will tell them that they LOVE their current medical insurance plans and would never want to give them up?

If they do listen to American citizens, will they report what they have actually heard, or will they spin what they have heard into just another fictional story that will allow them to make some minor concessions but still continue to pay their stockholders and CEO’s major dividends?

A storm is brewing, and WE The PEOPLE are the only thing standing between a final outcome of calm winds and smoother sailing for our citizens, or the full brunt of a continued Hurricane of greed and profit for the few while the many continue to suffer.

This is going to be the fight of our generation.  We MUST stand our ground and let the corporations know that we will not continue to be sheep for the slaughter while they continue to reap the benefits of OUR hard labors.  If we take down the Insurance Corporations, we will send a loud and clear message to them and other corporations that the winds of change are blowing and that WE not them are manning the tiller and steering the Ship of State.

Stand up and be heard.  If they want to have a “listening tour”, be damned sure you and your family and friends give them something to listen to.  Make sure your Representatives get an opportunity to “listen” to you as well.  Let’s win one for a change.  For all of US.