> Brian wrote: > I'm an economic simpleton, i readily admit that....but where have I gone > wrong here? Seriously, if insurance didn't exist....would my surgeon be > selling his 30 minute medical procedure for $10,000 dollars??? >
You've just made a wonderful argument for Consumer Driven Health Care (CDHC). In my view there's 2 systems that work: a government heavy system like Canada's or Britain's or a non-existant CDHC program. CDHC will work as, basically, catastrophic health care insurance. You'll be able to save money in a tax free health savings account (HSA) and then spend it on anything you want: band-aids, aspirin, surgery, etc. The insurance will kick in at around $5000 and the insurance companies will be competing for your money, so they'll be motivated to provide good benefits and low cost. Since you'll be able to pick any doctor to spend your HSA on, they'll compete to provide high quality, low cost health care. Bad doctors will be run out of the market. You're already seeing things happening in this area with companies like MinuteClinic: they are located in malls and superstores. They give you a pager, just like a restaurant, so you can shop while you wait. When you're up, you get your care and leave. In your case, you'd have used part of your HSA to pay for your surgery and insurance would've covered the rest. If your rates go up there'll always be another company will to take on a young buck like you. There's obvious issues that need to be worked out, but CDHC will most likely by the new US system. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Special thanks to the CF Community Suite Gold Sponsor - CFHosting.net http://www.cfhosting.net Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:136881 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
