Speaking of surgury, if you've been keeping tabs on my throat goings ons, my last appointment this week saw no real improvement in the little "bumps" on my vocal cords. They aren't getting any worse but not really any better either. My doctor prescribed me some allergy medication (which of course my insurance company is refusing to pay for again so I don't have it yet) in addition to the acid reflux stuff to see if that helps. If not, we have to decide if a "vocal cord scraping" is the way to go. That doesn't sound fun.
Reminds me of Dr. Nick: Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit... until I jam this down your throat!
But yeah, there are no bigger crooks in this world than insurance companies. For health insurance, the original idea was to spread the risk of a huge medical bill among many premium payers. Therefore, everyone gets a consistent but manageable bill regardless of whether or not they get sick. Somewhere along the line, the middle-man, the companies that were just supposed collect, hold and then distribute that money --all for a reasonable cut of the action-- became the final say and ultimate power on all healthcare finances.
The only thing that was supposed to keep them in line, ie the free market ability to find another plan, has been undermined by
1. Legislation and unfair contracts that formalize their position as top-dog, and
2. Group plans that eliminate the free market (ie, you have the health plan that your employer gives you... no choice for most people).
I'll say it again. These companies were just supposed to be middle-men, piss-ant pencil pushers, the universal necessary evil of any bureaucracy. Now, they control what meds you get, what tests you get and what surgical procedures are available; not based on what's best, but on what's most cost-efficient for themselves.