I would love to know how much insurance companies make each year...
The average profit margin for insurance companies is 3%.
We spend $2.5T each year on health care. Get rid of all the profits for the top insurance companies - that is $12B (a drop in the bucket compared to total spending).
The problem is not Insurance Company profits - it's demand shielded from prices, which ObamaCare will make worse.
Many of us have posted suggestions for real reforms which would address the supply vs. demand issues, and lower the cost structure:
- Remove the barriers to interstate competition so that all 1,300 health insurance companies in the country can compete with each other (CA's insurance commissioner currently allows on 6 of them to provide insurance in the state).
- Tort reform which limits punitive and pain & suffering damages.
- Tax code reform which decouples insurance from employment and expands the availability of HSA accounts so that individiuals are the consumers AND purchasers of health care.
Whole Foods has a very effective model for the last point; Texas provides a good model for the second one. These are real life successes that could be extended across the country. Instead, the Dems have opted for oppressive government control and taxation, which will make health care more expensive and reduce supply.