Physicians need to unionize

Sooner or later the time and energy wasted on suing health insurers like Cigna and Aetna [“ Medical Groups Sue, Say Aetna, Cigna Shortchanged Doctors”, Health Care, Feb. 11] www.courant.com will enrage and galvanize doctors into persuading the federal government to give them a dispensation from the laws that prohibit them from forming unions.

Fortunes are spent by doctors’ organizations fighting these large insurers for improper business practices. And doctors waste countless time and energy in servile obedience to the guidelines and regulations that they force them to accept; as a result they are becoming demoralized.

Runaway greed and excessive executive compensation have become routine procedure for some health insurers. The October 6 issue of American Medical News reported that a former CEO of one health insurer was paying back investors $30 millions as a result of a class action suit in California brought because of improper financial activities.

The health care system cannot make any significant progress towards establishing a universal health care system unless greed is eliminated. About 47 million Americans are without insurance and 18% of the GNP is consumed by health care. Yet the nation’s health on average is no better than countries that spend about 11%.

A health system based on providing profits to shareholders by minimizing services to patients, raising their premiums, and under-paying doctors cannot provide a solid foundation for the country’s future health system.

Physicians’ unions can provide the counterweight necessary to put balance into the system.

Ed Volpintesta MD