The Occupy movement has been relatively quiet for some time now — despite the many reasons nowadays to protest big business. While the Occupiers seem preoccupied with banks, other private businesses are taking great advantage of their consumers, as well.
Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler recently announced that two of the state’s largest nonprofit health insurers have record surpluses of more than $1 billion each. But Premera Blue Cross and Regence BlueShield aren’t passing their “reserve” savings on to their customers — in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Health-insurance companies across the board have raised their rates significantly while cutting coverage, including much-needed prescription medication for those with life-threatening conditions. As such, more than a million Washingtonians have no health coverage.
To further compound many families’ already-shaky financial situations, the outlook for jobs is uncertain at best. Even though 11,700 jobs were added last month, the state’s unemployment rate was still around 8.3 percent in May. And extended unemployment benefits are ending for thousands of working people by the end of the year, so they will be without the cushion of a regular unemployment check. (According to the state Employment Security Department, 17.6 percent of the state’s workers were unemployed or underemployed for the last 12 months, ending March 31.)
And we can’t forget the ever-increasing gas prices that rose to an average high of $4.34 per gallon in our state until just this past week. Only after Sen. Maria Cantwell requested the Federal Trade Commission look into price-gouging at the pumps that prices have slid down at least a nickel a day.
With the economy as it is, it’s no surprise that foreclosure filings rose 27.5 percent in May in King County alone. The banks are even agreeing more to short sales of homes to avoid more foreclosures, according to the RealtyTrac foreclosure-data firm.
And, ironically, we can’t even drink our sorrows away because of the inflated prices for spirits, now that the bigger, privatized stores are selling them and passing off their business taxes (of at least 17 percent, plus per-bottle fees) onto us at the register. Bars and restaurants are following right behind, passing off their higher costs to us, too.
If we didn’t fear arrest and possible “help” by anarchists, maybe more of us would take up with the Occupy movement, too, and we wouldn’t feel so helpless before the whims and buffetings of big business.