Or are they major shareholders? If so, the "razor-thin profit margins" argument goes out the window.
No the insurance companies do not own the hospitals but the insurance companies do have doctors on their panel and also in certain countries they do have tie-up arrangements with hospitals, wherein if you need to be hospitalized and do choice the hospital where tie- up arrangements are there, the bill would be directly settled by the insurance company as per the terms and conditions of your coverage and eligibility
No, they don't own hospitals and aren't major shareholders in hospitals.
And just because you don't know/understand how insurance companies make their profits, doesn't automatically mean that they're charging too much premium.
They pay, on average, $.99 of every premium dollar, out in claims.
They make their profits, off of the billions of dollars in reserves, that they have invested. The government REQUIRES them to hang onto these billions of dollars to cover future potential claims; they invest them securely (lots of treasury bonds), and even 5% of BILLIONS of dollars, is a darned nice profit.
But that doesn't mean they're scalping their insureds - they AREN'T. Just because they're making a profit, does NOT mean that you're being overcharged for your insurance.