Wiping out the health care insurance industry?
WTF?
Am I correct that the Health Care Insurance Industry in America is something like 16% of the economy? I seem to remember that figure from previous reading here. Is it correct?
Yep. That is the end game. Sort of. Obama is on record as saying that he favors single-payer insurance. Single payer is code for the government is the ultimate underwriter. In the quest to nationalize health care, something like nationalizing health insurance is an intermediate step.
Now that will not mean the end of all health insurance companies. The government does not have the infrastructure to administer all of it — at least not yet. So the system will, for a period, end up like Medicare, where there are insurance companies that act as payers and fiscal intermediaries, handling claims and payment on behalf of the government. Today the largest group that does that is Blue Cross/Blue Shield (in various flavors). They have the most political clout and will likely experience less damage than the other insurance companies.
In the wake of the ruling from SCOTUS some insurance companies have already begun downsizing. And as of yesterday, I was one of those downsized (along with 20% of their marketing personnel) from one of the largest non-Blue insurance carriers. I distinctly remember the first time I read the first part of the stupid bill. I knew then that my days were numbered.
Sadly, it was not just the days of my job that were numbered. Unless Obama and his puppet masters are voted out, it will be the Republic whose days are numbered.