The Misnomer of "Insurance"

- by Edward R. Annis M.D, past president of the AMA

Excerpt:

"There are laws against the mislabeling of products to hide their real
ingredients or to claim the presence of a component that is lacking.

But which is the worse disservice to Americans? The mislabeling of products
manufactured for sale, or the misrepresentation of ideas or political actions?

Millions have been led to believe that programs such as Social Security and
Medicare are insurance simply because they are called .social insurance..Even
though the Medicare Part A card is labeled "Health Insurance" the United States
Supreme Court held long ago that Medicare is not insurance, but rather a tax on
one segment of the population to pay the bills for another segment. In other
words, it is a tax on workers to pay the medical bills of retirees.

Similarly, Social Security is a tax on today's wages to pay a pension to those
retired at age 65, or even at age 62. No insurance contract exists for either of
these programs, and no Social Security or Medicare funds are banked for
investment and growth. In the early 1940s until the government's intrusion into
medicine by Medicare in 1965, private medical insurance was expanding rapidly.

In 1965, 7.7 million of the 16 millionAmericans then over the age of 65 were
covered by private medical insurance. That insurance, like home owner's
insurance, car insurance, and life insurance, enabled policy holders to share
the risks of catastrophic or unexpected needs.Insurance was not only readily
available but also reasonable in cost because it was utilized only by those
faced with costly services in cases of serious illness or accident. In order to
be insured, the risks had to be unpredictable.

Before government interfered, costly medical and surgical needs were rarely
experienced by more than 5 to 6 percent of the public in any one year. Contrast
the situation today, when insurance is expected to cover all minor aches and
pains and to cover federal or state mandates for coverage that is neither needed
nor desired...."

The above excerpt is from a longer article entitled:
"Toward Socialized Medicine (Part II): Fighting the Leviathan"

Full essay here:
http://www.jpands.org/vol8no1/annis.pdf