The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    SleepinJeezus's picture

    Health Care Reform or Promotion of the Health Insurance Industry? It's All a Matter of Perspective.

    By SleepinJeezus on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 8:57pm |
    According to a letter in today's paper, Bill McGuire, former CEO of UnitedHealth Group, accumulated total compensation of $1.6 billion during 2005, "just a hair over $4 million a day if he worked all 365 days of the year."

    Like me, I'm sure you look at this figure and reason that it serves as a pretty good argument in favor of single payer health care coverage. After all, this is a whole lotta' healthcare-related resources being applied wastefully toward something that contributes nothing to our nation's health care system.

    Unfortunately, I fear President Obama and too many in Washington look at this figure and see little more than a terrific source of potential campaign finance funds.

    This difference in perspective explains more than anything why we seek health care reform and our political leaders respond by trying to enhance and preserve the health INSURANCE industry.