Why do members of various professions not police themselves? Do they really enjoy it when their profession's reputations go in free-fall when there are enough of their fellow professionals doing terrible things? Are bankers proud to be the butt of so many other's jokes? Weren't there at one time a group of bankers who were proud of the service their profession provided their countrymen and would do quite a lot to protect the reputation of their profession? If yes, what could they have done in an organized fashion to prevent the current debacle?

Today's LA Times has a disturbing piece on how health insurance providers are overcharging their patients and thereby breaking the law. Doesn't their reputation for serving their customer and caring for that customer/patient's well-being suffer when this news comes out? Is the price they pay for this malfeasance high enough to discourage a repeat of this law-breaking and insensitivity to patients pocketbooks, much less the law of the communities they work in? If not, how do we discourage them from repeating this sorry episode?

Insurers exceed state-issued rates for last-resort health coverage