U.S. is only nation to rely heavily on for-profit insurers for basic health care
In February, amid the heated debate over health care reform, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation to bar insurance companies from implementing “unfair” hikes in health plan premiums. In a March 8, 2010, New York Times story, Feinstein explained why she cares so much about the issue.
“We are the only industrialized nation that relies heavily on a for-profit medical insurance industry to provide basic health care,” Feinstein said. “I believe, fundamentally, that all medical insurance should be not-for-profit.”
We thought it would be worthwhile checking if Feinstein was right that no other nation “relies heavily on a for-profit medical insurance industry to provide basic health care.”
As it turns out, some other countries do have private, for-profit insurance companies operating in their health care sector, and there are some indications that this sector is growing. But the business, legal and regulatory environment in which they operate is quite different than it is in the United States.
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