Posted By:
Todd (nolemmings)Most of the public has been spoon-fed with this tripe about lawyers and lawsuits for so long they simply accept it as gospel. If anyone truly wishes to study the issue of why insurance costs go up, I am confident they would find what many of us already know-- insurance companies raise premiums so as to achieve certain rates of return to their shareholders; rates that likely would otherwise be met if their money managers knew what the hell they were doing.
While 9/11 certainly hit the life and casualty insurers hard, the health insurance industry has no excuse. It is not (and has not been)an issue of claims exceeding premiums. This crap about tort reform has been a hot issue now, and was in the early '90s. Both W. Bush and Clinton decried how lawyers and lawsuits had run amok, and the lemmings just would not look to see the obvious-- the S&L crisis of the late 80's (Clinton), and the stock market plunges of a year or more ago (Bush). THE INSURANCE COMPANIES HAD LOST BILLIONS IN POOR INVESTMENTS DURING THESE TIMES, and yet would raise rates under the guise that the legal system was being abused by unscrupulous plaintiffs and their lawyers. After all, someone had to pay and someone had to be blamed.
I'll stop now, or find another forum, since I'm more than a little off topic. Still, Adam, be aware that you're not the only one who needs to blow off a little steam now and again about the lawyer bashing.
Regards.........Todd