Listening to Larry Kudlow interview a spokeswoman for the health insurance industry on CNBC this morning. She was defending the health insurance industry anti public health care plan position. Her main premise was that health care providers and hospitals would go BK if a public health care plan was created. When asked why, she danced around the question and finally stated that a public plan would not reimburse providers and hospitals enough to stay in business.

There is an interesting implication to her response. That is, insurance reimbursement is enough to keep providers and hospitals in business. This could not be further from the truth. In Southern California we have experienced a number of acute care and community hospitals closing its doors. We have experienced doctors and other providers leaving the state because they couldn't make ends meet. This is with health care insurance reimbursement, not a public health care plan.

Fact is the health insurance industry must protect their profits in order to satisfy shareholders and pay the salaries noted in previous posts. If the health insurance industry had to compete with a public plan, they would experience a tremendous drop in revenue in order to compete. In other words, perhaps her comments are a self fulfilling prophecy. If health insurance companies had to compete with a public plan, maybe they would go BK.

Providers and hospitals are NOT afraid of a public plan as this woman alleged. Providers spend an extraordinary amount of money working through the existing system controlled by the health insurance industry. We must have resources dedicated to verifying benefits, certifying procedures, appealing denials, and fighting for reimbursement. This craziness MUST STOP. The resources used to fight with insurance companies should be redirected to providing health care.

The health insurance industry would have you believe that a public plan is socialism, that a public plan will cause providers and hospitals to go bankrupt, and that a public plan will create death squads for the elderly. These scare tactics are designed to defeat "Medicare for ALL." Truth is, these scare tactics are designed to protect insurance company corporate profits and executive salaries. Don't be fooled by this greed driven industry. A public plan that allows patients and providers to make health care decisions and negotiate balances is the hybrid system that will result in immediate reduction in health care costs and BETTER HEALTH CARE.