No we don’t need any health reform at all:

Michigan insurance regulators have approved a 22 percent increase for group and individual Blue Cross Blue Shield health policies in the state, according to reports published Thursday.

“Blue Cross officials have said they need rate increases to help cover $133 million in financial losses in 2008 on its individual health insurance policies,” reported Crain’s Detroit Business.

Blue Cross originally sought to raise individual rates by 56 percent and group rates by 41 percent. Its proposed rate increases were initially rejected by the state’s Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation, which negotiated the still-significant hikes

Michigan is already struggling to stay afloat, and now their businesses and citizens will have to pay a even more per month for health care.

Welcome to the problem.

If Republicans are successful in derailing health care reform, then we are left with the same broken system that is killing us. What is stopping the insurance companies from getting together and deciding they are going to raise their rates 1000%, 5000% or even 10000%? Sure state regulators can intervene on a state-per-state basis, but they eventually have to give the insurance giants what they want, or risk having no coverage for the people of their state.

I think the most astonishing thing is the fact that we just saw our economy go into free fall because of lack of regulation/oversight. The insurance company has every bit as much control over the economy as the banking sector. Yet somehow the Republicans think that the status quo is perfectly fine.

Perhaps that is what should happen next at the townhalls. When some teabagger stands up and starts yelling and complaining, the person holding that townhall or someone in the audience should ask them what their solution is. Put them on the spot and see what they have to say when it isn’t on the script.