The truth about health insurance premiums and profits

On a recent Fox News debate about health insurance, Democratic political strategist Bob Beckel explained that, “The president needed an enemy, and the insurance companies are it.”

On a recent Fox News debate about health insurance, Democratic political strategist Bob Beckel explained that, “The president needed an enemy, and the insurance companies are it.”

Reporting from Washington– President Obama on Friday postponed a high-profile trip to Asia, keeping pressure on congressional Democrats to start voting next week on the long-delayed healthcare overhaul legislation and send it to him for his signature before the end of March.

In a health-care speech near Philadelphia today, President Obama took on the insurance companies, warning that the industry has made a collective decision to drive rates up even if it means that more people and more companies have to drop their coverage.

Expect Mr. Obama to use his opening remarks to argue that Democrats and Republicans are not as far apart as they think on health care — both are concerned about the deficit and rising health premiums, he will argue — but, beyond that it’s hard to say what will come of the six-hour made-for-TV meeting, [...]

A recent online petition being spread by the political action committee MoveOn.org is well poised to get the attention of America’s top health insurers. The petition demands that “Anthem Blue Cross must provide a detailed explanation for their exorbitant rate increases, or else roll them back immediately”.
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama proposed scrapping a Bush administration plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 in a budget for NASA that would instead farm out some space operations to companies for missions closer to Earth.
ABC NEWS: Although President Barack Obama’s push for a health care overhaul has stalled, conservative lawmakers in about half the states are forging ahead with constitutional amendments to ban government health insurance mandates.
The proposals would assert a state-based right for people to pay medical bills from their own pocketbooks and prohibit penalties against those who [...]
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — a noted champion of civil rights — has apologized for referring to President Barack Obama as “light-skinned” with no “Negro dialect” during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Delegates to the global climate conference in Copenhagen sat in stunned silence today as President Obama solved the global warming crisis with a single 25-minute speech.
Federal Reserve chair beat out Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Usain Bolt and others
Remember September 2008? The month when the entire U.S. financial system almost collapsed? Ever since that pivotal moment, one person has been in the crosshairs, making decision after decision that has impacted nearly every American alive today.