It's the Money

HARTFORD, Conn. - A group of doctors from New Jersey is opposing a plan by Aetna Inc. to drop coverage of a type of anesthesia used during colonoscopies.

Gastroenterologists and other doctors say patients anxious about colorectal screening may balk unless they are assured that their insurance coverage includes the cost of anesthesiologists who administer propofol, an anesthesia the doctors say is effective and comfortable.

"The idea should be to encourage these procedures because of their lifesaving ramifications," said John Fanburg, counsel for the New Jersey State Society of Anesthesiologists and the New Jersey Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Society.

But.. I thought the health insurance companies put their client's health before making a profit? No?

I know Doug is concerned that Aetna's employees would be out of work if we changed the focus from stockholders to patients. So what if there are "lifesaving ramifications"? Rich people need to make more money.. and have their taxes reduced, because it's not right to tax success, right?

I swear to god, you cannot make this shit up. The loons have it all exactly backwards.

Speaking of health care financials.. apparently smokers and heavy people are not the ones putting a financial strain on the system.

LONDON - Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, researchers reported Monday. It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars.

"It was a small surprise," said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who led the study. "But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more."

In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal, Dutch researchers found that the health costs of thin and healthy people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or smokers.