That all said, private insurance allows choices. Lots of choices. My group plan offers four very different options, each with different premium costs, deductible costs, and maximum out of pocket expenses. Some have a cap on what insurance pays while others have no limit. Depending on your individual situation you can choose the best option for you based on your individual risk.
On top of that I have shopped for individual insurance. Yes, it would cost me more but my rates fluctuate much less unless my own health or habits change. It would be a plan priced primarily on my own liability.
I have choices. Even with as screwed up as our current system is it offers more freedom and choice than any socialized system. And if I determine that I don't need or want insurance that is also a choice I have.
My point is if you buy insurance, you are supporting those who haven't been able to take care of themselves along with the people who have had misfortunes of being sick. I don't care what type of insurance you have or how much you shop around, you're going to be paying for these people.
You need to quit ignoring Danoff. He explains the lack of consumer involvement in the payment is why prices are so high. Do you look for the best deal when going to a doctor? No. Because you have insurance and as long as the doctor is on your plan you don't care.
I don't feel like Danoff's post contribute anything and I don't agree with his posting style so he's on my ignore list, seems to cause less issues. But freedom of choice right
Consumer involvement in what doctor you go to has very little to do with why the cost of healthcare is so high. The main reason your doctor's visit costs so much is due to malpractice, ask any doctor and they will probably tell you this, I know I've spoken with several during my employment and they all say the exact same thing. Malpractice insurance has become so out of control that it makes their overhead obscenely high meaning they have to charge a lot of money. Depending on the practice and what they do and the insurance they require, each doc could be paying $50,000 or more per year for their malpractice and this is assuming they haven't been previously sued. Factor in employees, utilities and the desire for a large salary and you see the cost of healthcare climb.
Allowing people to shop for doctors isn't really going to do much unless malpractice lawsuits are controlled and the doctor's insurance lowered. Every doctor deals with it.
Most insurance plans allow you to go to any doctor that takes it, in Michigan it's HAP and BCBS of MI typically. Probably 95% of docs take either one of those or both, along with the obvious Medicare and Medicate. The only doctors I have ever come across that don't take insurance at all are some psychologists and psychiatrists, hell even chiropractors take insurance.
My plan is unique since it's through a health system, I have to go to a doctor that is connected to our health system, which seems fair to me. Plus I should support the doctors that support the hospital, right?
But let's look at your billers you work with. Ask them how much they bill insurance vs what insurance actually pays. Or just look at your own insurance statements. The doctor charges $1,500, you pay your copay or deductible/coinsurance ($300 at worst, $0 at best), and then the insurance actually pays something like $200. They can turn profits on as little as $200, but charge $1,500. Do you think they would charge $1,500 if patients shopped based on price, or do you think they might start quoting something closer to $200?
I can't ask them, it's borderline illegal. But I can tell you based on my bills it depends on what I have done and where I go. If I go out of the health system my insurance pays a very small portion and if I go within the health system they cover a pretty big chunk. I mean I've paid as much as $700 for a single doctor's visit before and they were an in system doctor that took my insurance.
If patients shopped based on price they really wouldn't see that much of difference because the overhead for all doctors' offices is insanely high as I've said. One doc may be a little lower than another, but overall the industry is still going to stay high priced. And why wouldn't they? Healthcare isn't something you can ignore if you want to continue living, so why not charge whatever since it's either pay it or end up in bad shape/dead.
Drug companies do the same exact thing before their drugs end up generic.
No one here is an anarchist asking for zero regulations.
This conversation began with a discussion of food regulations being enforced in the name of public health. There is no reason to need to force people to make healthy choices when health care is dealt with properly. I only mentioned dictatorship in saying that is the only way to truly force people to be healthy. I never claimed anyone was advocating a dictatorship. It was used to show you the error of your thinking, that you cannot protect us from ourselves any other way. Tax or regulate bad habits until the end of time, we will find a way to make bad personal choices, particularly if we derive pleasure from it.
I don't believe having zero regulations would make a good society, in fact I think it would be much worse. I believe it would just end up with whoever has the most money would end up dictating what can and cannot be done. Yes, there is such a thing as to much regulations, but there is also such a thing as not enough. As I've said I don't trust people to do the right thing, even with regulations they still don't do the right thing.
It's not so much a personal level of decision making, but corporate. I think food should be regulated and there should be a standard to which items are made. McDonald's could make their products from just a bunch of chemicals (although I suspect they do) and sell it to the public. Say those chemicals were known to cause cancer but they made the food taste good. If McDonald's never says anything people will keep eating and eventually start getting sick. Depending on how much money McDonald's then wants to throw at the problem, they can easily keep it under wraps without the general public knowing. This happens all the time and why I believe people can't be trusted to do the right thing, they are only going to do what benefits them. Politicians, no matter what party, are a prime example of this as well.
OK. Not sure where anyone suggested otherwise, so I don't know what you are instead of-ing.
I know a common theme around here is that we should throw out everything that's perceived as wrong and start anew.
