Myths of Health Care “Reform”

By Dan Lucas

I am an IT worker for a nonprofit health insurer who is tired of hearing highly inaccurate and highly politicized information in the national health care debate. In this article I want to take on four of the bigger myths that are clouding the national health care debate.

1. Myth: “Insurance companies care more about profits than people.” Not true. The three largest health insurance companies in Oregon are nonprofit: BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente and Providence — there are no shareholders. Nationwide, more than 60% of health insurance companies are nonprofit. As an industry, even the health insurance companies that are for-profit only make an average profit of 2.2%4 — a far cry from the anti-insurance hyperbole that cite profits of 35%.5.

Oregon Catalyst