Reply #49: Also keep in mind the insurance ind. needs us, we don't need them [View All]

[ipaint]

The customer base for private insurance has slipped since 2000, when soaring premiums began driving people out. The recession has accelerated the problem. But even after the economy recovers, the downward spiral is expected to continue for years as baby boomers become eligible for Medicare -- and stop buying private insurance.

Insurers do not embrace all of the healthcare restructuring proposals. But they are fighting hard for a purchase requirement, sweetened with taxpayer-funded subsidies for customers who can't afford to buy it on their own, and enforced with fines.

Such a so-called individual mandate amounts to a huge booster shot for health insurers, serving up millions of new customers almost overnight.

..."They are interested in 45 million new customers," he said, "but the first thing in everybody's mind is preserving their right to do business in a way that can be profitable and meet shareholder needs."

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/07/business/fi-healthcare7?pg=2

They know if they can't get a mandate for coverage through their co's and a weakened public option (1.4 mil a day in washington will buy that) their businesses are facing a bleak economic future.