Free Republic

Now that health care reform in the shabby disguise of ObamaCare has been crammed through Congress, a peek at the president's precariously stacked dominoes confirms that sooner than you may suppose, there won't be any private companies selling health insurance in America. Consider: There are approximately 1,300 insurance companies in America today. Beginning January 1, 2011, these companies will be required to pay out 85% of all premiums collected as direct medical care, leaving 15% of corporate income to fund operations and yield any potential profit. The health care industry has a profit margin of about 3%. Most American businesses...

We turn to the Wall Street Journal for the math on what it will cost to raise taxes on corporations’ retiree prescription drug coverage. This is the provision that has caused several corporations to take markdowns recently. The bottom line: by closing this “loophole” — which was originally created to dissuade companies from dumping retirees’ prescription costs into Medicare Part D — the government could lose more than five times what it brings in. The Employee Benefit Research Institute calculates that the 28% subsidy on average will run taxpayers $665 in 2011 and that the tax dispensation is worth $233....

Henry Waxman is peeved. He expects corporate America to swallow health-care reform without a peep of protest -- and, apparently, without revealing new costs to shareholders or the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last week, AT&T announced it will take an immediate $1 billion write-down thanks to a new tax in the health bill that will cause Caterpillar ($100 million) and Deere & Co. ($150 million), among other large employers, to do the same. The benefits consultancy Towers Watson estimates that the change may reduce corporate profits by as much as $14 billion over time. That's real money. For comparison: It's...

Regardless of whether His Majesty, King Hussein Obama the First’s healthcare destruction bill passes, you can be sure that liberals everywhere will continue to attack our nation’s health insurance companies. In fact, if this bill passes, those attacks will probably increase in intensity since the King’s bill will probably be beneficial to the insurance companies. As many friends and foes of this bill have already noted, including myself in a previous post, The Voice of Experience ,since this bill provides subsidies to purchase insurance for those people who couldn’t previously afford it and mandates coverage of those people who have...

WASHINGTON — Americans can't take weekends off from worrying about health care and the Senate shouldn't either, Majority Leader Harry Reid said today as he opened a rare weekend session to debate President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. With Democrats preparing to vote on an amendment targeting tax breaks for insurance executives' pay, Reid lashed out at "greedy health insurance companies" that he said make profits by neglecting consumers' health needs. Reid, D-Nev., called the weekend session as he races the clock to complete action on the 2,000-page remake of the nation's health care system by Christmas. With both sides...

As 60 Minutes reported last week, Medicare fraud is rampant and has now replaced the cocaine (ahem) business as the major criminal activity in South Florida. Both 60 Minutes and the Washington Post report that Medicare fraud now costs American taxpayers roughly $60 billion a year. That may sound like a lot of money, but surely it pales next to the extraordinary profits of private insurance companies, right? Well, let's see.... Last year, the profits of the ten largest insurance companies in America were just over $8 billion -- combined. No single insurance company made even five percent of what...

“Profit” and the “profit motive” have successfully been reclassified by the American political Left as a dirty word...

With less than half the doses estimated to be needed likely to actually be available, the government has set rules aimed at directing short supplies to those deemed most vulnerable. As expected, children and pregnant women top the publicized priority list. Unexpectedly, though, it has been disclosed that Wall Street bankers and brokers have also been allocated a share of the scarce supply. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner explained that “ordinary people can’t be expected to understand the strategic need for us to keep Wall Street up and running. Missing a single day’s trading because of the flu could cost...

WASHINGTON – In the health care debate, Democrats and their allies have gone after insurance companies as rapacious profiteers making "immoral" and "obscene" returns while "the bodies pile up." But in pillorying insurers over profits, the critics are on shaky ground. Ledgers tell a different reality. Health insurance profit margins typically run about 6 percent, give or take a point or two. That's anemic compared with other forms of insurance and a broad array of industries, even some beleaguered ones. Profits barely exceeded 2 percent of revenues in the latest annual measure. This partly explains why the credit ratings of...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Quick quiz: What do these enterprises have in common? Farm and construction machinery, Tupperware, the railroads, Hershey sweets, Yum food brands and Yahoo? Answer: They're all more profitable than the health insurance industry. In the health care debate, Democrats and their allies have gone after insurance companies as rapacious profiteers making "immoral" and "obscene" returns while "the bodies pile up." Ledgers tell a different reality. Health insurance profit margins typically run about 6 percent, give or take a point or two. That's anemic compared with other forms of insurance and a broad array of industries, even some...

WHY is Congress so eager to cut $160 billion-plus from Medicare Advantage? The program does things that President Obama and other liberals normally praise. Is the cut simply the price charged by AARP (the American Association of Retired Persons) for overlooking the rest of the $500 billion in Medicare cuts meant to finance "health-care reform"? Medicare Advantage offers a range of benefits beyond basic Medicare. It combines many elements Obama and other liberals like -- such as subsidized premiums for low-income elderly, "pooling" of insurees to provide bargaining power and managed care that emphasizes prevention, treatment of chronic conditions and...

Obama-linked consultants cash in$24 million spent on pro-health overhaul ads By Sharon Theimer ASSOCIATED PRESS Tuesday, August 25, 2009 President Obama's push for a national health care overhaul is providing a financial windfall in the election off-season to Democratic consulting firms that are closely connected to the president and two top advisers. **SNIP** There is no evidence that Mr. Axelrod directly profited from the group's ads. Mr. Axelrod took steps to separate himself from AKPD when he joined the Obama White House. AKPD owes him $2 million from his stock sale and will make preset payments over four years, starting...

What a difference a year makes. In 2008, we were treated night after night to video clips of the obscene spectacle of Congresspersons berating oil company executives because Big Oil was making a profit. There was talk of Excess Profits Taxes, and endless posturing punctuated with faux indignity. Okay, fast forward to now, and try to pick out the phony headline . . .

Given the public outcry over news of Goldman Sachs's recent record earnings, you'd think many people would prefer Goldman had lost money. Does that really make sense? I can understand why some people are upset, since I've heard from many of them. Their argument is that Goldman Sachs, like other recipients of funds from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, might well have failed without taxpayer assistance. Now, without the slightest sign of being in any way chastened, Goldman bankers have gone out and earned so much that they stand to receive huge bonuses that rival those at the height...

General Electric Co.’s second-quarter profit fell by 49 percent, plagued by declining revenue in its financial services, industrial and technology units, including its GE Healthcare division.

Prophets of Doom has been around probably since the beginning of man’s existence on earth. Whether one believe man was created by God from the dust of the earth, or he evolved from a sea creature, a monkey, or matter from a collision of the planets commonly known as the big bang. Whatever your preference for the origin of man it is no secret that from the time he began walking on planet earth he began predicting its end. It’s now estimated that more than 50% of the world population give doomsday prophets some credibility regarding “End Time Events” thereby...

Mark my words. GM's first penny in profits will be celebrated and heralded as a major accomplishment of the Obama administration. Keep in mind that GM's future foreseeable profits will be made at the expense of you and I, the unfortunate taxpayers.

Hagan Suing Water Authorityby John Hammer Editor April 16, 2009 Your water rates may go up, and your newly elected Democratic US senator may be somewhat responsible; not in her official capacity, but personally. Sen. Kay Hagan's husband, Chip Hagan, and others have filed suit against the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority (PTRWA), which is the owner-operator of the Randleman Dam. The PTRWA board was told Tuesday that this year it was going to have to increase its budget for legal expenses by a considerable margin to pay for the cost of being sued by Hagan and other downstream hydroelectric...

The nation's largest banks have made quite a comeback. Having nearly brought the market to its knees a few months ago, the financial sector has surprised experts with impressive profits. Citigroup -- widely considered to be the country's weakest big bank -- reported this morning net first-quarter income of $1.6 billion, beating analyst expectations and making it the bank's best quarter since 2007, Citi CEO Vikram Pandit said. Citi's news comes on the heels of reports showing better-than-expected, first-quarter profits by three other major banks: $2.1 billion for JPMorgan Chase, $1.7 billion for Goldman Sachs and $3 billion for Wells...

Citigroup posted a smaller-than-expected loss thanks to cost-cutting and improved investment banking. Still there were missing details and the report left questions open like when will Citi be ready to repay its bailout funds to the government and are its taxpayer supported profits from this quarter sustainable? (See "Citi Profits, For Now.") Wall Street was unimpressed with Citigroup and the stock fell 1.5%, or 6 cents, to $3.94, in midday trading. The past 12 months have been unkind to the New York-based firm, whose seen its market value sink no less than 84.3%. Meanwhile, General Electric ( GE - news...