Humana "called out" by the Obama Administration

Amy - While I may not agree with all that you have said, I do believe that the Government needs to get involved with these insurance companies. No one is pressuring them to hold up their end of the deal with policyholders and we are all getting fleeced in the private sector every year with their 20%+ premium increases and their higher deductibles. Unless you are in the private small business sector, you probably don't see this happening. I'm sure that those in large companies don't have a clue as to what the little guys are paying. I've actually been in touch with the Wisc. Insurance Commissioners Office these past 2 weeks regarding our problems with Humana and they have been quite helpful in answering my questions vs. Humana blowing me off unless I send them an email daily to ask for a response. If a business that takes money from the U.S. citizen does not stand behind their 'deal', then the Govt. should be looking into their practices. In my opinion, they have gotten by with taking advantage of the people that they have promised to treat fairly and provide insurance for.
Our entire government as well as the really large corporations need a complete overhaul. The problem is, where do we start? How do we do it fairly? When does someone start treating the American People right?

Have a great week!

Tami: I disagree that we need the government to get involved with the operation/monitoring of insurance companies. While I empathize with your situation, each situation is different. Many people have excellent service from their insurance companies. Some don't. Some experience an episode which is frustrating, but in other cases, insurance companies come through. It all depends on what incident, etc. one wants to look at. The only thing I see government doing to help with insurance companies would be to simply allow them to be accessible nationwide, rather than statewide. I think we would see prices go down and competition, which would control costs.

My post is really about the Obama Administrations attempts to silence a message that an insurance company was trying to get out. I think that is wrong. The government should not be censoring private companies and what flyers they are mailing out. Seems to be infringing on free speech. What's next - not allowing any Republican campaign advertising on television? Cuz Obama & Co. don't agree with it?

If Humana's free speech rights were being violated why would they so easily agree to stop the mailings? Answer: What Humana was doing was in violation of their contractual agreement with the government...and they know it. And the last thing the insurance industry needs at this time is a lot of negative press. Plausible explanation? Considering Humana's history of misconduct, I would say: you betcha!

Go get'em chief!

http://www.contractormisconduct.org/

How about the people take matters into their own hands and boycott health insurance companies? If everyone stopped paying their premiums and put any medical bills they end up with on long drawn out payment programs the health care field and insurance companies would be brought to their knees...oh sure some would go broke and some would die, but in a free market society there are always going to be losers. And the biggest ones would be the insurance companies since they would lose money which of course is much more important than say some poor saps life.

Hemmer wants to back to the days when consumers were on their own. When companies were able to push products out their door regardless of their quality or how they would affect the consumer. She wants to return to the days when cars would burst into flame upon impact. When producers do not have to label their products with the contents even if they are hazardous to the consumers health. . When the companies were able to mislead the consumer into believing that the company cares about their safety when they are only interested with maximizing their profit.

Hemmer Time

You do a good job at studying the superficial, but lack a clear understanding of the "real deal".

Do you think guys like Joe Wilson wants LESS government interference and spending --- do you really think the good folks of South Carolina share his sentiments ?

WRONG

Check out the ratio of money that those Good Old South Carolinians sent to DC and the money they got back.

Per Capita, South Carolina ranks 16th highest among the states !!

The Folks in SC get back $1.35 for every $1 they send to DC. In Wisconsin we only get back 86 cents for every $1 ...

In fact in FY 08/09, SC received $7.1 BILLION from the Federal Govt --- or appros $1650 PER PERSON !!!

And this is NO accident --- for decades, the Southern Congressmen and Senators have Porked Up their States by getting enough seniority to send Federal Spending to the South ... NO big secret there !!!

President Eisenhower spoke of the Military / Industrial Complex --- and he may well have had SC in mind --- there are 9 Major Military Installations in SC, compared to only Ft McCoy in WI.

It is ironic that so called Conservatives, who voted Bush into office over Gore, were primarily from Net Income of Federal Dollar States --- almost every state which receives More Dollars from the Fed then they send to DC voted for Bush !!!

Interestingly, Florida is basically a "break even" state, they get back about $1 for every $1 they send ....... no wonder they were the Main Battle Ground ...

Amy I don't think you don't understand the insurance business. With the rising costs from our insurance carriers over the past 10 years our company has been forced to make several changes to our insurance plan. Of course we raised our employees premiums and increased their deductibles, we also have included a spousal carve out. The maximum lifetime limit has been cut from 2 million to 1 million, the copayment percentages where lowered and the yearly out of pocket per employee and family was increased. We have reduced the number of employees and have hired more temps. so we dodn't have to pay for the employee's insurance. If the cost of insurance continues to increase we will have to pass the increase on to our employees. Many of them will not be able to afford the premiums and will be forced to drop their coverage.

I think the government should regulate the insurance industry, just like it regulates utilities. Could you imagine how much electricity would cost if it was up to them to set prices!

Wow - looks like the "gag order" placed on Humana by the White House is actually becoming a news story:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/09/shut-up-the-government-says-mcconnell-on-humana-letter.html

Some excerpts:

"ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf reports: Democrats announced yesterday that HHS was investigating whether the insurer Humana was misleading seniors about health reform legislation. And CMS, the government entity within HHS that administers Medicare told Humana, in no uncertain terms, to cease and desist lobbying its customers on health reform legislation. "

“Using the full weight of the federal government’s enforcement powers to stifle free speech should trouble all Americans — and all of us — even more,” McConnell said. “We cannot allow government officials to target individuals or companies because they do not like what they have to say.”

“Shut up! the government says,” said McConnell on the Senate floor of the CMS letter to Humana. “Don’t communicate with your customers. Be quiet and get in line,” he said facetiously.

Fact - McConnell is from Kentucky which just happens to be the corporate headquarters of Humana.
Fact - McConnell has taken over 112k from the Humana PAC
Fact - I don't remember reading anything in the Freedom of Speech part of our heritage about Corporations having that same right. I believe it's for individuals.
Fact - If all who worked in Corporate America refused to 'contribute' to their company PAC via their automatic withdrawal/withholding from their paycheck, these companies would not have as much money to continue to scam all of us.

If you want to know how much a company is 'contributing' via their PAC, just type in the name of the company followed by political action committee and the link will come up for you to view their monthly IRS reports. Check out the one on Humana. It even tells you how much each 'employee' has contributed by employee name and position in the company. The last month posted for 09' is over 200 pages long.

Tami: Here's another excerpt from:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/09/shut-up-the-government-says-mcconnell-on-humana-letter.html

"In a written statement, House Minority Leader John Boehner calls a letter of rebuke from CMS Humana “outrageous” and accuses the White House of “trying to keep seniors in the dark about the consequences of congressional Democrats’ costly government-run health care bills.”

“Would the Administration impose this sort of gag order if seniors were being given information promoting the Obama health care plan? I don’t think so,” says Boehner in the statement. “Seniors have a right to know about the cost and consequences of the Democrats’ health care bills, and Republicans will continue to tell the American people the facts about the nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts that Democrats are proposing.”

In response to your comment, no matter how much $$$ McConnell may have received from Humana, it doesn't make it right for the White House to be silencing people who aren't going along with Obama's plans for socialized medicine.

Amy - I agree that the WH should not be silencing people, but it appears that Humana did not engage in 'honest advertising' either. And, we still don't have a bill....on anything! How many more months and how many more dollars are we the people going to let our government spend on getting nothing done that will benefit those that they represent? Meanwhile, the Insurance companies are raising rates and finding ways to not pay claims. All while their execs are being paid salaries that you would have been screaming about if it were AIG, Lehman Bros, ect. back in the Fall of 2008. We can't have it both ways. It doesn't matter if you are a Repub. or a Democ., there are still lots of issues that are impacting our way of life that are not being solved all because of the grandstanding taking place on both sides of the aisle. Let's see some real facts and forget all of the other crap so that we can all continue to take care of ourselves, our families and our businesses. If you take out all of the half truths and stay focused on the problem, the solution should not be that hard to come up with.
Have a great week!

Tami: I disagree that Humana was being dishonest about sounding the alarm regarding what Obamacare would do Medicare.

Click on this from yesterday:
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-9/1253692865234910.xml&storylist=washington


Here's an excerpt:

"Congress' chief budget officer on Tuesday contradicted President Barack Obama's oft-stated claim that seniors wouldn't see their Medicare benefits cut under a health care overhaul.

The head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf, told senators that seniors in Medicare's managed care plans could see reduced benefits under a bill in the Finance Committee.
The bill would cut payments to the Medicare Advantage plans by more than $100 billion over 10 years."

also: "The Finance Committee bill along with other health care legislation in Congress would cut around $500 billion in projected Medicare payments to providers over a decade, including around $125 billion from Medicare Advantage."

The CBO is telling Obama things he doesn't want to hear. And when Humana tries to tell their clients the same thing, Obama doesn't want them to hear it, either.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If Humana is in the right why did they heed this "gag" order. If they have a valid point why aren't they getting this out to everyone instead of only their customers.

government has already taken over banks and the auto industry, even going so far as to fire executives....
So should they have walked away from the banking and auto industry, let them die a natural death? Or just give them the cash without any strings attached ?Maybe gave the CEO of GM a bonus package and a raise for the great job he has been doing?

It's ironic that the very people who claim they are against so-called "socialized medicine" have now become staunch defenders of socialized medicine (Medicare).

Actually, I am not defending "Medicare", jmark. Read my blog. I assume you probably haven't. I am defending Humana's right to provide their clients with a flyer that is telling them the truth about what cuts are coming to Medicare, should Obamacare become a reality.

And lakeside liberterian: The Dept. of Health and Human Services administers Medicare. They strong-armed Humana into shutting up. They told Humana in no uncertain terms to "cease and desist." When the government and government power is behind the order to shut up, I think Humana decided it was in its best interest to do what Big Brother - oops! - I meant the White House - demanded.

As for your other comment, I think the government should have let private businesses declare bankruptcy and restructure. Or, if they did not want to, let them die a natural death like you say. That happens to other businesses - and some turn things around given the chance to streamline and find more cost-effective and competitive ways to do things.

If Humana's rights were violated, it would be in their best interest to fight the government. It would be a gift to the insurance industry. The insurance companies could then run tv ads with a little old lady proclaiming:

"THE GOVERNMENT HAS SILENCED MY INSURANCE CARRIER! NEXT THEY'LL BE SILENCING THE ELDERLY!"

This message brought to you by:
Bloodsuckers Who Are Fearful That Change Will Affect Their Ability To Profit Handsomely From Other People's Misery

When the government and government power is behind the order to shut up, I think Humana decided it was in its best interest to do what Big Brother - oops! - I meant the White House - demanded.
Only the weak ,stupid or the guilty knuckle under so easily.
And with the monetary influence Humana has, I don't think they are weaklings or idiots.

Amen to this Tami

Let's see some real facts and forget all of the other crap so that we can all continue to take care of ourselves, our families and our businesses. If you take out all of the half truths and stay focused on the problem, the solution should not be that hard to come up with.

"Chicago thug politics..." Wow. Either you're uninformed or simply a shill for the Wrong (referred to in the media as the "right:). Assuming you're the former, here's is some info.

Judging by your pic, you're not eligible for Medicare yet. Medicare has been running beautifully for 45 years. It is a single payer system. It is run by the government. Think government is inefficient? THINK AGAIN. It costs 4% of benefits paid for overhead, vs. 27% for the average private sector insurance. For far better coverage.

Medicare beneficiaries on Original Medicare (vs. what CBS News calls Medicare DIS-Advantage) can go to any doctor, any specialist without a referral, and any hospital anywhere in the country that accepts Medicare assignment. That's 97.5% of docs and 100% of hospitals.

With Original Medicare, they have far greater certainty of being covered. Medicare does NOT have an army of claims reps poring over your every bill; they're just looking for fraud. So if your doc says you need a procedure or treatment that's Medicare approved, they Medicare pays. NOT SO WITH Medicare DIS-Advantage. See this story: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=4025709. Woman with a BROKEN BACK and the
AARP Medicare DIS-Advantage plan REFUSED TO PAY for hospital care!!! There are many more such stories.

The simple answer to the health insurance problem: Make Medicare available as an option for EVERYONE -- at a price that equals cost. If people want better coverage, they do what 90% of seniors do: BUY A MEDIGAP PLAN that pays what Medicare doesn't...

Mike Nu - sounds like a plausible plan to me! Now, if we could only keep the insurance execs out of the medicare payroll...

"As for your other comment, I think the government should have let private businesses declare bankruptcy and restructure. Or, if they did not want to, let them die a natural death like you say. That happens to other businesses - and some turn things around given the chance to streamline and find more cost-effective and competitive ways to do things." - Hemmer

You're not a student of history are you Amy.

In the America of the 1930s, 25% of the nation was unemployed; 9,000 banks failed, taking with them the life savings of millions of people; the stock market lost 40% of its value; the Gross National Product was cut in half; and the majority of the elderly were living in dependency. In this climate, radical proposals and angry mass movements swept the nation. On the political left, there were plans to seize the wealth of the rich and redistribute it to the elderly and the unemployed; there were calls to nationalize the banks and other industries; and schemes and dreams from the well-intentioned and the unscrupulous alike. On the political right, the preference was for reliance on State-run welfare programs to see the nation through, or for a "do-nothing" posture in hopes the economy would right itself soon enough. In the context of the time, President Roosevelt's call for a social insurance system was thus a moderate response to a nation in crisis."

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/historyroom/hroom4.html

In 1929, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon faced the impending Great Depression and said: Bring. It. On.

Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate … It will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people …

This is basically the stance of the House Republicans. Brad DeLong points to this nugget:

According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that they'd rather "let the markets crash" than sign on to a massive bailout.
For the sake of the altar of the free market system, do you accept a Great Depression?" the member asked.

And John Derbyshire, over at The Corner approvingly cites the above Mellon quote and asks: "Won't somebody please dig up some of Andrew Mellon's DNA and get cloning?"

Tami - "I don't remember reading anything in the Freedom of Speech part of our heritage about Corporations having that same right. I believe it's for individuals."

Under the law "Corporations are Persons" .

"mmmm mmmm" !

http://www.hallowedsecularism.org/2009/09/how-did-corporations-get-constitutional.html

The Court has never squarely faced the question of corporate rights, although in several cases, the Justices have seemed to assume that such rights exist. But now is the time to confront the question directly. Corporations do not have rights. Rights are restricted to human beings. You might as well ask whether dolphins have constitutional rights.