The "85% are Happy with their Insurance!" Argument

Question: Why are 85% of people who have health insurance happy with what they have? This percentage is used as an example that private health insurance is working, so why fix it? Why have health care reform at all if 85% of the people are happy? That this poll number is at all credible is another question entirely (I could not find it’s source, although I found plenty of instances of the number being used). In fact a recent poll (July 2009) by a respected polling organization shows the opposite: http://www.gallup.com/poll/121664/Majority-Favors-Healthcare-Reform-This-Year.aspx

If the poll number is true then consider this: 85% of people with insurance have not become really sick. As is approximately consistent with most of the United States’ population for early and middle aged persons. If that same group of 85% of people, each experienced a fatal disease in their lifetimes, the health insurance business would be a losing proposition. Because 85% of the population is a good insurance risk that makes for basic good business practice.

If 85% of insurance clients did get really sick they would find they are treated like the remaining 15% who are unhappy with their insurance. They would also find caps on care delivery financing, policy dropping, increased premiums, high deductibles, only 4/5ths hospital coverage, refusal of rare procedures, limited choice of doctors. Without getting really sick, most insurance clients, never find out about these many pitfalls. It is in the insurance company’s best interest (money) to conceal these truths from customers.

Older persons and the disabled (some 71 million) are in a government Single Payer controlled program called Medicare. The delivery system within Medicare is so good that virtually no one chooses to leave the program to buy full private insurance (even if they can afford to buy private insurance). Additionally, this group of people gets really sick far more often then the younger groups. We must ask, are at least 85% of Medicare recipients happy with their insurance? The answer is obviously so.