Stewart Park Squatters Demand Wellmark Change It’s Business Model
November 12, 2011 4 Comments
The complete and utter ignorance of the protesters taking part in Occupy Des Moines never ceases to amaze me. We have seen the protesters from Occupy Des Moines take a foolhardy and provocative stance that led to the arrest of more than 30 of the protesters. We have seen many of the so-called protesters continue to insist beyond any and all rational reasoning that the 1st Amendment allows their little squatters camp to violate the law. But the latest out of the Stewart’s Park Squatters Camp really takes the cake.
According to this story in the Des Moines Register, about a dozen of the squatters tore themselves away from their dingy little tents to march on one of Iowa’s largest and most respected employers. In their sights this time was Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. The dirty dozen delivered their brazen demand that Wellmark “put people before profit” by lowering their premiums.
It is absolutely astounding that the occupiers have the nerve to tell a successful and well respected company like Wellmark how to run its business. It is quite evident that the group has absolutely no knowledge as to how a business, such as Wellmark, operates. Instead they make an emotional demand that Wellmark abandon a business model that has worked successfully for a great many years just because the occupiers don’t think it is fair.
I have a proposal for the dirty dozen that marched on Wellmark. If you don’t like how Wellmark operates, change to a different company. If that doesn’t appeal to you, start your own insurance company. Organize it as a non-profit so that you can “put people before profit.” Compete with Wellmark and the other insurance companies doing business in Iowa. The quickest and surest way to affect change is through competition. If you can offer equal or better coverage than Wellmark for less they will be forced to change how they do business.
With that said, I don’t see it happening. We have now had several weeks to observe the group. One conclusion that has been easy to come to is that they are lazy. They don’t want to do the work, they want someone else to do it for them while they sit back and reap the rewards. I know this is harsh, but the story about their Wellmark march demonstrates this conclusion very clearly.
You must have been in a sour mood when you wrote this, eh, Al? “dingy tents”. “utter and complete ignorance.” “dirty dozen” “lazy”. Maybe you should walk mile in their shoes before you jump to such conclusions.
As for Wellmark being successful, I’ll say. They have cornered a near monopoly on health insurance in Iowa with 3/4 of the small business and individual policy market. They could use a little competition. But they don’t want to be part of the new competitive forum, the state heath insurance exchanges now being established. They may prefer monopoly capitalism. How about you?
Telling their critics to start their own insurance company is a pretty shallow response. You could use that response for every controversy. It is rather like telling critics to move to Russia if they don’t like American policy. Glib.
I am always in a sour mood when it comes to the squatters taking part in Occupy Des Moines. My disdain for the group began when they insisted that they had a right to break the law. On the very first day of their little camping trip about 30 or so of the unwashed decided that they had a right to remain on the state property in defiance of the curfew which resulted in their arrest. I don’t suffer fools well.
The problem with Obamacare Jerry is that it does nothing to solve the problem of rising healthcare costs. It just adds more regulations and rules to a system that is already heavily regulated.
And no Jerry, telling the dirty dozen to start their own insurance company is not a shallow response. I am growing weary of idiots with little to no work experience making demands of successful individuals and businesses. If the dirty dozen thinks that they can run a health insurance company better, then they can launch their own. They can use the business model that they want. But the bottom line is they are too lazy too. They don’t want to do the work that is necessary. All they want to do is whine demanding that others should conform to their will. As I said, I don’t suffer fools well.
Al gets more arrogant when it is pointed out how callous he is. He is wise, they are fools. Just ask him. He knows how much work each of the scorned has done, and how dirty they are. He adds new names (“idiots” “fools” ) to deepen his political/economic analysis. He persists in idolizing monopolies as “successful businesses.”
He must be happy to know the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) lobby is burning down the economy to make themselves richer.
He is almost correct about one thing: the new health insurance law “does nothing to solve the problem of rising healthcare costs.” The law surely does too little. It still stops Medicare from negotiating drug prices. It still bans imported drugs. It still lets doctors get paid more and more.
But it has some cost controls. One is that insurance companies must pay out at least 80% of their premiums in health benefits, using only 20% to pay themselves. So why has Iowa applied for a wavier on that one? Wellmark worried that it won’t have enough profits? Have they put profits before people?
Maybe the Occupy Des Moines folks know something about this that Al does not know.
Jerry,
Go ahead, call me arrogant if you want. But I am not out there telling a legitimate and successful business that they need to change their business model or else. What I am doing is telling about a dozen squatters that if they believe that they can do a better job at running an insurance company that they should go ahead and launch their own. But they won’t do that. They don’t want to do the work necessary to building a business. They are lazy.
Umm, Jerry, if Wellmark cannot afford the administrative costs (such as ensuring compliance with laws and regulations) then they will not be able to stay in business. Do you know what the administrative costs are for Wellmark? I know that I sure don’t. And for the occupiers to arrogantly make demands upons something they know absolutely nothing about is laughable. So yes, I will stand up for Wellmarks ability to pay their employees and to pay their obligations.