Music Choice, My Old Lady, and Thou

I just now realized much to my surprise how little attention in the health care debate is being given to the distinction between mutual and corporate for-profit insurances. Mary and I both own New York Life insurance policies (that's not a mistake; policyholders own the company) . I don’t think that those who administer New York Life Insurance Company (not to be confused with NYLIAC) are thought of as anything but well compensated for their labors, but any financial growth experienced by the company is returned to policyholders in the form of dividends. Everyone is going to die. Nobody knows when. In a mutual company the risk is pooled so that the insured amount is available at whatever time it is needed. Wisely managed mutual insurance companies succeed by putting money back into the pockets of the owners, the policy holders.

A single payer, universal form of health coverage should provide mutual insurance for every citizen of the United States. (What is to be done with non-citizens will, I think, have to be addressed after every citizen is insured.) This defines the pool from which the risk is covered, and the dividend to citizens will be lower costs for unconditional coverage. This does not interfere with medical practices currently in place and will actually provide additional savings through lowered administrative costs. Our country has paid an inestimably high price for allowing corporations to profitably assume individual constitutional rights. When We the People contribute to the protection of one another, we reclaim our democracy. Our government should collect premiums calculated on the whole national population which will then fund unconditional health coverage for every citizen (this may lend a great new significance to the census figures). We the People demand that our tax dollars stop being paid to corporations!