Why Health Care Reform Fails

If you've ever wondered why all efforts at true health care reform fails, you need only look as far as the next quarterly report of earnings from one of the big HMO/Insurance companies. Results for UnitedHealth Group were in this morning's Wall Street Journal:

– UnitedHealth Group Inc. Thursday said its net income rose 36% in the second quarter, and raised its forecast for full-year earnings.

[snip]

"We expect strong results from our businesses in the second half of this year," said UnitedHealth Chairman and CEO William W. McGuire, M.D.

All of the other HMO/Insurance companies are doing just as well and as in many businesses that are thriving, the bigger ones are buying up the smaller ones in an attempt to "rationalize" supply and demand. These same companies regularly make the list of top contributors to politicians - especially those with a strong business bent or those on key committees that could affect the health care industry.

Now that a completely Republican controlled government has finished raising the status of the corporation above that of individuals, there is no way that true health care reform can ever pass through Congress. Unless of course we can vote back a little balance into the equation - and then continue to let all of our lawmakers know that universal access to health care is important to us all.