• Aetna
• Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
• Assurant

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• HumanaOne
• Kaiser Permanente
• PacifiCare

• Supplemental Medigap Insurance
• Medicare Advantage Insurance
• Equitable Life & Casualty

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• Rocky Mountain Health Plans
• SecureHorizons by UnitedHealthcare
• Universal American
• WellCare

Concern over Overspending on Health Care in Colorado and the U.S.

Liberal Benefits and Conservative Spending

Few would dispute that our health care system is deeply troubled. Forty-six million Americans are completely uninsured, and millions more have inadequate coverage. Employers' premiums are skyrocketing, workers are paying higher co-payments and deductibles, and seniors face soaring out-of-pocket costs. Yet government spending on health care in the U.S. exceeds total spending in any other nation. One reason -- even as we deny care to many in need, we perform hundreds of thousands of unnecessary operations and procedures and too often prescribe useless or harmful medications.

In the 35 years since the implementation of Medicare and Medicaid, a welter of patchwork reforms has been tried. All have foundered on a simple dilemma: expanding coverage increases costs unless resources are siphoned from existing care. But with U.S. health care costs nearly double those of any other nation -- and rising more rapidly -- large infusions of new money are unlikely.

Recent health policies have encouraged an expanded role for investor-owned firms and private insurers. New layers of bureaucrats have invariably overseen the managed care "diet" prescribed for clinicians and patients. But several studies of HMOs show low satisfaction and inferior care for sick patients. HMOs have actually increased Medicare costs.

The fiscal case for national health insurance (NHI) arises from the observation that health care's enormous bureaucratic burden is a peculiarly American phenomenon. Our biggest HMOs keep 20% (even 25%) of premiums for their overhead and profit. Canada's NHI has 1% overhead while our Medicare takes less than 4%. Reducing our bureaucratic apparatus to Canadian levels would save 10% to 15% of current health care spending (at least $200 billion annually) and fully fund both coverage of the uninsured and upgraded coverage for the underinsured through administrative cost savings.