It appears that the average person in this country now thinks that insurance companies are "looking out" for their best interest when it comes to matters of personal injury compensation, casualty loss, and medical and dental claims. This propaganda victory has been the result of years of television and media advertising on the part of the insurance industry, and IT should get the credit IT deserves.

However, this implied "looking out for", or hint of "caring" is simply not the case. Looking out for customers is not in the job description of an insurance company - period. The job description of an insurance company really looks something like this:

because following this formula equates to maximum profits for the company, and getting maximum profits is exactly why the company is in business to begin with.

This is the true job description of an insurance company. It is not complicated, because that is all IT has to do. It is not good or bad, it is just what insurance companies have done for hundreds of years.

The insurance company should never be given human or other vital attributes such as referring to IT as a "they, their, or them". An insurance company is a corporate entity, IT is completely lifeless, and IT is totally devoid of anything remotely alive or capable of what humans call feelings. Modern marketing and advertising have perverted the public's view of the corporate entity. Popular cartoon characters have been equally perverted to sell the product. Snoopy, now long associated with "Get Met, it pays", should be replaced with a grinning tyrannosaurus, and would be, if there were real teeth in the so-called truth in advertising laws.

Now contrast the Insurance Company job description with the job description of the dentist.

That's about it, in the proverbial nutshell. It is oversimplified, but the vast majority of those practicing this profession follow this formula.

When the public begins to confuse the role of the insurance company and the role of the dentist, things often go amuck, and other purely corporate marketing schemes like "Managed Care", or "Capitation Plans" begin popping up all over the place. When patients begin seeking the advice of the insurance company about who to see for their treatment, there is serious trouble in River City.

For several years, it has not been unusual to have patients go to one dentist or another because some Insurance Company List tells them to. These same people may someday have to patronize supermarkets or gasoline stations for the same reason; however, by that time, they will either be completely numb to the perversions of modern corporate marketing, or be lining up to join their local underground "anti-corporate" militias.

If you check with the insurance companies, the spokesperson will say that "anyone can see any doctor", but IT'S Patient Handbooks somehow manage to only list the insurance company preferred providers. Insurance company preferred providers are doctors who discount their fees for specific insurance company customers. In these preferred provider dental offices, patient's who are not the property of an insurance company still pay for their dental services at the standard rates.

Dentists know that dental insurance policies now play a significant part in determining people's ability to pay for dental treatment. If people have dental insurance, they are more likely to seek dental treatment. If people do not have dental insurance, they are less likely to seek dental treatment. If people's dental insurance plans pay for specific dental treatments, they are more likely to seek specific dental treatments. If people's dental insurance plans do not pay for specific dental treatments, they are less likely to seek specific dental treatments. Note that in all cases referred to above, "less likely" implies just that fact. People used to pay for dental treatment of all types long before the insurance industry made IT'S first determination that there was money to be made from selling dental insurance policies and collecting premiums for dental insurance plans.

Managed Care in dental care is an absolute farce. Paying doctors to not treat patients is a perversion of the basic job description of dentists. Unfortunately, some dentists are quite content to collect payments from an insurance company and pretend that they are providing professional dental care for their managed care patients. On the part of the insurance companies, collection of premiums goes on day and night.

Unfortunately, the public has been deceived into believing that managed care works in medical care, where the fallacy of prevention and change of lifestyle is stressed more than actual hands-on care. Managed care is bogus care where the only thing that matters is IT'S bottom line. Managed care, if unchecked, will eventually result in the total destruction of all of health care. Remember Snoopy!

"Did you ever expect a corporation to have a concience, when it has no soul to be damned, and no body to be kicked?" ---- Edward Thurlow 1731-1806