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NAVIGATION PNHP RESOURCES
Posted on April 14, 2009

Indicting the insurance companies and the system that supports them

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based on evidence from many sources including the SiCKO film

Denial of Access to Insurance

Count #1: That insurance companies charge such high insurance premiums that millions of Americans cannot afford to purchase any insurance at all, leading to 18,000 deaths every year.

Count #2: That insurance companies deny access to insurance for people who may have one of a long list of diseases, rather than make arrangements to see that they receive the care they need.

Count #3: That insurance companies drop people from coverage while they are sick, when they can no longer work at the job from which they get their insurance or can no longer pay their premiums.

Count #4: That insurance companies retroactively cancel insurance because of presumed undisclosed pre-existing conditions, even after the patient has received care and incurred financial liability for the care.

Denial of Coverage

Count #5: That insurance companies often cover such a small portion of necessary medical costs that millions of Americans with insurance end up bankrupt.

Count #6: That insurance companies require prior approval for large numbers of medically-necessary tests and procedures, adding needless expense, delay, and stress for doctors and hospitals. Prior approval is often required even in emergency situations when it is physically difficult or impossible to obtain such approval.

Count #7: That insurance companies deny access to care on the grounds that drugs or procedures are experimental, even when there is good evidence that the drug or procedure is potentially life-saving.

Count #8: That insurance companies deny coverage for tests or treatments without any review by the responsible Medical Director or other medically-qualified person on their staff.

Count #9: That pharmaceutical companies charge such high prices for drugs, and insurance companies cover such a small portion of their cost, that millions of Americans are denied the medications they need to recover, survive, and live comfortable lives.

Perversion of the Medical Profession

Count #10: That insurance companies pervert the medical profession by providing financial incentives that lead their Medical Directors and other medical personnel on their staff to deny access to care and thereby to harm patients.

Count #11: That insurance companies impose medical decisions without the direct interaction with patients required of treating physicians.

Misuse of Funds

Count #12: That insurance companies file fraudulent claims for payment from government insurance programs (Medicare and Medicaid).

Count #13: That insurance companies use our money to pay their CEOs hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to provide us with more and better medical care.

Count #14: That insurance companies draft legislation behind the scenes and without public disclosure that include financial giveaways to themselves and their pharmaceutical company allies.

Count #15: That insurance companies use our money to make political contributions in order to avoid government regulation and to resist proposals that would replace them with a public program that would provide better, more comprehensive, life-saving care.

Count #16: That insurance companies use our dollars to support the publication of propaganda that provides false and distorted information on the health care programs of other countries.

Count #17: That insurance companies use our dollars to support the publication of propaganda that seeks to persuade the American people that they do not have a right to health care when they need it and that health care is a consumer commodity that only those with the ability to pay are entitled to receive.

Count #18: That insurance companies mislead the American public by offering choices of plans while denying them their choice of doctor and hospital, often including, in emergencies, denying them access to the nearest hospital.

Count #19: That insurance companies support a system that requires that Americans have the right job to qualify for health care.

Count #20: That insurance companies support a system that sets the price of medical tests and procedures out of reach of millions of Americans, even though little additional cost would be incurred by treating the patient.


Compiled by Len Rodberg, Research Director, New York Metro Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program

New York Metro Chapter, Physicians for a National Health Program
PO Box 50193, Brooklyn, NY 11205. Tel: 718-222-9266 Fax: 718-222-1140
Email: pnhpnymetro@nyc.rr.com