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Socialized Health Care, Anyone?

I am self-employed, but I know that if I worked for someone else, part of my job would be to make a profit for my boss, who is taking the risk and deserves the reward. That's the American way and I support that. I am a capitalist.

I also understand that indirectly I'm working for the insurance companies, and they are going to pay me less than they take in. I also know that insurance executives make a lot more money than I do. I'm cool with that.

This brings us to the front-page article in the April 19, 2006 Wall Street Journal, which explains that the CEO of UnitedHealth Group has a pension plan that will pay him 65% of his average compensation during his last 3 years of employment. I think that arrangement among executives is fairly standard.

Anyway, the article goes on to explain that he's sitting on stock options that will pay him, get ready for this, $1.6 billion when exercised. That's billion with a B. That's $1.6 BILLION. That's right, BILLION!

I can add and subtract a little bit, so I calculated what he would get if he retired tomorrow. Forgetting any other compensation, which I am sure is gobs of the stuff, if he exercised those options tomorrow, he would put that $1.6 billion in the bank, minus, of course, capital gains tax. His average compensation over 3 years would have been $533 million a year, and so his 65% pension would give him $346 million per year. That's another BILLION dollars they've got to pay him every 3 years for the rest of his life.

Fleecing the System

Years ago an insurance executive explained to me this: "We are not in the business of providing benefits. We are in the business of collecting premiums." ("And taking care of ourselves," he might have added). I understand that they have to stay in the black. I also understand pensions for the execs. But, damn!

Patients expect medical care for their premiums, and doctors expect to get paid for providing it. But when one person gets to suck out billions from the healthcare system for himself, we have a system that is seriously sick. I hate to think that health care may have to switch from capitalist to socialist before I retire, but we can't go on like this, either.