Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Your health insurance dollars at work

Large business and government in America seems to be full of "pork".  Some of you wonder why health insurance costs so much?  One reason social programs.  Health insurance companies connect providers, provide accounting, member services, oversight, research, and contribute to civic health related charitable work.  And that charitable work (which frequently involves low cost/free clinics) is a State requirement.  

Oakland, CA
, KRON, Channel 4, 11/29/10 article, Kaiser Permanente gifting $10.5 million to support violence prevention.  Of that total, $7.5 million pays for school-based health centers, strategic planning efforts, and an African-American male achievement program; $1 million for violence prevention support, and youth mentoring for at-risk kids; $2 million for "Remember Them", to build a social justice monument and park (a project initiated by the Chamber of Commerce).
 

Not that "pork" is bad if its helping your community, but it exists and we pay for it not only in government but also through our business transactions.  The government (Senate) will vote soon to try living without "pork" for 2 years, we'll see how that goes. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

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