The Mystery of Health Insurance

Even given the political polarity at work, it's been hard for me to comprehend the virulence of the opposition to health care reform that can improve the situation even a little.  The health insurance situation is so bad and affects so many people that reform should be universally welcomed.  Why especially is anyone more afraid of what the government might do as opposed to what health insurance behemoths are already doing?

And according to the New York Times, still doing:

 " The nation’s major health insurers are barreling into a third year of record profits, enriched in recent months by a lingering recessionary mind-set among Americans who are postponing or forgoing medical care.... Yet the companies continue to press for higher premiums, even though their reserve coffers are flush with profits and shareholders have been rewarded with new dividends. Many defend proposed double-digit increases in the rates they charge, citing a need for protection against any sudden uptick in demand once people have more money to spend on their health, as well as the rising price of care...

Some observers wonder if the insurers are simply raising premiums in advance of the full force of the health care law in 2014. The insurers’ recent prosperity — big insurance companies have reported first-quarter earnings that beat analysts expectations by an average of 30 percent — may make it difficult for anyone, politicians and industry executives alike, to argue that the industry has been hurt by the federal health care law."

Much of the article is about how people are denying themselves medical care because of cost, even the cost of driving any distance for tests, because of gas prices on top of deductibles.  This is making health insurance even more profitable for these conscienceless companies.  Yet they can't break the habit of raising rates.  And these are the institutions that people trust?