That means Merril Lynch and Bear Stearns, and Lehman Bros. out too...oh wait, those three aren't around anymore. That just proves my point: the largest health insurance companies being nothing more than appendages and pass throughs of Wall Street Banks is an indefensible situation.
Wall Street Banks and Funds hold these percentages of shares in Health Insurance Cos.:
United 86.03%
WellPoint 89.03%
Aetna 91.80%
CIGNA Corp. 84.91%
Coventry Health 92.87%
Health Net Inc. 100.59% ???
Humana 88.88%
Amerigroup 108.38% (WTF???)
Wall Street Banks are the enemy. By taking it to the them instead of their pawns, we include everyone in our fights. It changes from Red and Blue pea-shooting to a purple rain of righteous and undeniable outrage and disgust.
These "small government" protestors who lambaste DC for bailing out the banks that ruined our economy, would be forced to defend those very same banks.
Who does everyone find contemptible? Wall Street Banks and Hedge Funds, who as Cornsyrupawareness puts it:
that's a fantastic point and one that needs to be mentioned with every breath by public option supporters. Just like John McCain=George Bush we need to wed the ideas of Private Insurance=Wall Street.. or the Current System=Wall Street or.. Mandate-Public Option=Wall Street Bailout#2. Wall Street's poll numbers have to be somewhere near Cheney's.
We have our perfect foil. Wall Street Banks. Despised by all walks of life. They own the Health Insurance Companies.
Universal hatred of Wall Street leads to proper Universal Health-care.
Who is going to defend them? Their only defense has proved effective. Distraction. It's time to for us to nullify it and pull the curtain back.
REALITIES
Barring something on the magnitude of a barnburning CBO report in favor of Single Payer, or a Canadian invasion, or Anthony Weiner changing his last name, public option is currently what's on the table.
If we can redefine the enemy, however, and turn the heat up on Wall Street once again, we may have a shot at something great. They will give up their tail to save their heads.
BEWARE OF DISTRACTIONS
Are the enemies we should be concerned about Palin? Gingrich? Armey? I don't think so. I look at the political participants as players for corporations. Different teams, same group of owners. It's become quite evident the GOP has a deep farm system when it comes to screwball mascots. Their logic appears to be: If you can't win with talent, defecate on homeplate, urinate on the umpire, and shoot the fans.
The Dems, expend their superior talent making the GOP's positions look competitive, just to keep people in the seats. To mix a metaphor, it's like watching the Globetrotters throw a game. Over and over, again.
IMHO, the idea of Crazy King George wasn't enough to form the revolution. It was the fact that he had whored himself out to the East India Company that blew everyone's fuse. It was the abuses that people suffered on their behalf, because of George's weaknesses, that congealed the resentment. 13 colonies of distinct regions, culture and temperament all came together because of that global corporation.
Let's forget the crazies for awhile. They get paid to be crazy so as to distract. They're just mascots and sign twirlers. When we focus on them, we're falling into a trap.
Let's focus on the real enemy.
Something about autumn...It's almost Christmas shopping season. It's time to give Wall Street the shivers.
Aetna. The company today reported a loss of $130 million in the fourth quarter, and a total of $326.5 million
Humana
On another front today, insurer Humana’s third-quarter profit tumbled nearly 40%, dragged down in part by investment losses of $108 million, or 40 cents a share. The losses relate to what amounts to a Who’s Who of the financial crisis: Humana’s investments in Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounted for $76 million of the losses, and the rest were spread over "22 issuers in the financial services, mortgage and asset-backed municipal and corporate sectors," the company explained during a conference call today, according to Thomson Reuters.
Net worth for the State Farmgroup decreased in 2008 by $10.4 billion to end the year at $53.3 billion. The primary reason for the decrease was the $9.2 billion decline in the value of the property-casualty (P-C) companies' unaffiliated stock portfolio...
The P-C insurers are primarily engaged in automobile, health, homeowners...
FROM AUGUST 2007
Several health insurers report holding more than 20 percent of their portfolios in mortgage loans...
WellPoint, the largest U.S. health insurer by membership had nearly 27 percent of its total cash and investments in mortgage loans as of the end of 2006, McDonald said.
WellPoint has $300 million in subprime loans, giving it the most subprime exposure among health insurers, McDonald said....
But Cigna said of the nearly $18 billion in investments listed on its balance sheet, the company thought only $5 million of its loans potentially had exposure to the subprime sector.
Cigna lists nearly $3.7 billion in mortgage loans on its balance sheet, but those are commercial loans, a Cigna official said.
How shortsighted are these guys? As we all know now, and as many more knowledgable than myself said long ago, subprimes were just the start of the demise of the mortgage market. All mortgages markets are in decline and the majority are underwater. Particularly those $3.7 billion in CIGNA's commercial loans.
How many people were denied care to make up for the loss of billions? How many were denied care because billions were placed in a stock market.
You'll have to forgive me if I prefer health insurance companies to be how I like my banks: Boring and hyper-regulated.
To all those who will say "but that's not just Goldman Sachs, it's actually mutual funds small investors", I say give me the name of the kindergarten teacher in Des Moines who decides where those mutual funds invest. I say, look at the wealth distribution in this country and tell me who's running the show. I say show me the City Hall janitor whose dividends cover the increases in premiums, copays and deductibles, and the cost of denial should they become seriously ill and a victim of recission.
It is not rare for mutual funds to turn over 100% of their investments in a given year. I'm pretty sure they're not checking with my mailman when they do it.
Wall Street makes those calls. They own and control Health Insurance. And as the last thirty years have shown, they care not for the small folk who throw in their pittance, hoping to sew some security only to see it irrigated with toxic assets.
Get Goldman Sachs & Co the hell outta my Doctor's office!