Personal Option Needed

Originally published by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Editorial Board is right: Washington is failing patients. But a public option would only make things worse.

The Inquirer’s editorial claims five insurers have “earned” $9 trillion since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. But that’s a misleading figure because it represents revenue, not profit.

Those companies made a combined $371 billion in net income over that period — a 4.1% margin (low compared with other industries), or roughly $25 billion a year. Against the nearly $5 trillion Americans spend on healthcare annually, that’s about one-half of one percent. Insurer profit isn’t driving the affordability crisis.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer.