On Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:24:39 -0700 (PDT), riverman wrote:

On Mar 23, 2:39*pm, "John B" wrote:
What would be the problem with limiting the profit a Health Insurer could
make?

john

Nothing unless they compromise the quality of health care they provide
to maximize their profits. That would also apply if we didn't apply
limits.

Capitalist motivations aside, I think some industries should not be
driven by the profit motive. Imagine if our fire or police departments
were motivated to charge as much as the market would bear for their
services

Well, in a sense, they are. Fire and police departments and the
protection/service they produce are provided by "government" as a service.
However, the departments are made up of individuals who are, in a sense,
"charging what the market will bear" - for example, a police officer in
Manhattan "charges" more than one in Leakesville, MS and the Leakesville officer
is perfectly free to determine of the Manhattan market will pay "market rates"
for his services, just as the Manhattan officer is free to see if the
Leakesville market will pay him Manhattan market rates (or he is free to
determine if Leakesville will accept him at Leakesville market rates).

....and strategically selected to omit providing services to certain non-paying
segments of the population.

Now that's a different matter...

--riverman

TC,
R