For-profit health care

Where providing treatment is considered a “loss” and denying treatment is rewarded.

One of the state's largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved.

Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. avoided paying $35.5 million in medical expenses by rescinding about 1,600 policies between 2000 and 2006. During that period, it paid its senior analyst in charge of cancellations more than $20,000 in bonuses based in part on her meeting or exceeding annual targets for revoking policies, documents disclosed Thursday showed.

The LA Times has a good series of stories on the subject. Click on the link above and check out the articles under the “related stories” head on the left of the screen to learn all about the phrase “Use it and lose it” as it relates to health insurance.

Just more human suffering brought to you by The Free Market. But remember what Rudy Giuliani (you know, Bernie Kerick’s friend) said on the subject: “Free-market principles are the only things that reduce cost and improve quality.” He offered no explanation for the free market’s poor performance thus far in reducing cost and improving quality.