On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 9:19 AM, Andrew Crystall<dawnfal...@upliftwar.com> wrote: > On 16 Aug 2009 at 23:18, John Williams wrote: > >> If the government is going to interfere in the insurance market, it >> seems to me that it would be simpler just to directly subsidize those >> who cannot afford to pay health insurance premiums, and leave the >> insurance market to function rationally. > > That is extremely expensive, for all it's "simpler".
Actually, studies have shown that consumer driven health care reduces costs, and does not decrease preventative care. http://www.actuary.org/pdf/health/cdhp_may09.pdf | With regard to first-year cost savings, all studies showed a favorable | effect on cost in the first year of a CDH plan. CDH plan trends ranged | from -4 percent to -15 percent. Coupled with a control population on | traditional plans that experienced trends of +8 percent to +9 percent, | the total savings generated could be as much as 12 percent to 20 percent | in the first year. All studies used some variation of normalization or | control groups to account for selection bias. | For savings after the first year, at least two of the studies indicate | trend rates lower than traditional PPO plans by approximately 3 percent | to 5 percent. If these lower trends can be further validated, it will | represent a substantial cost-reduction strategy for employers and | employees. | Generally, all of the studies indicated that cost savings did not | result from avoidance of appropriate care and that necessary care | was received in equal or greater degrees relative to traditional | plans. All of the studies reviewed reported a significant increase in | preventive services for CDH participants. Three of the studies found | that CDH plan participants received recommended care for chronic | conditions at the same or higher level than traditional (non-CDH) plan | participants. Two studies reported a higher incidence of physicians | following evidence-based care protocols. _______________________________________________ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
