"One Cannot Measure What One Does Not Manage": Sit on, Obfuscate, Bureaucratize (Part XIII-n)

Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) attributes most of the exorbitant cost of healthcare to the contemptible profits being made by the health insurance industry. It's no wonder—their incentive is to Sit on, Obfuscate, Bureaucratize; in other words, the more they deny, delay or don't pay claims, the more they profit off the back of patients.

Sanders states: "In recent years, while we have experienced an acute shortage of primary health care doctors as well as nurses and dentists, we are paying for a huge increase in health care bureaucrats and bill collectors. Over the last three decades, the number of administrative personnel has grown by 25 times the numbers of physicians. Not surprisingly, while health care costs are soaring, so are the profits of private health insurance companies. From 2003 to 2007, the combined profits of the nation's major health insurance companies increased by 170 percent. And, while more and more Americans are losing their jobs and health insurance, the top executives in the industry are receiving lavish compensation packages. It's not just William McGuire, the former head of United Health, who several years ago accumulated stock options worth an estimated $1.6 billion or Cigna CEO Edward Hanway who made more than $120 million in the last five years. The reality is that CEO compensation for the top seven health insurance companies now averages $14.2 million."

"Health Care Is a Right, Not a Privilege." The Huffington Post; June 8, 2009

The Senator proposes establishing a government-run health insurance program where those who insure you aren't profiting by delaying or denying medically necessary or appropriate care.