DesideriScuri
Posts: 12225
Joined: 1/18/2012
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Zonie63
quote:
ORIGINAL: fucktoyprincess
When you look at all the players in this industry: pharmaceutical and medical device companies, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, ambulance companies, etc. this is a HUGE money making business. There are reasons why the medical community and insurance companies are against a single payer solution. They will not make as much money as they currently do. But in many health care situations providers and insurance companies are in a monopoly situation, so there is not competition to drive prices down to more reasonable levels. Health care really is a public good.
Perhaps there might be something to the notion of competition and consumer choice. One of the problems is that a lot of people can't afford health insurance on their own, so they're generally stuck with whatever choices their employer can provide - and even the employers have few affordable options. You have to take whatever you can get, and you're stuck with whatever network the insurance company provides - along with their formulary.
There is some choice, as they generally provide a list of doctors and facilities, but maybe there should be even more choice, to include doctors in other countries, alternative practices, etc. If we really want apply the principles of the "free market" to healthcare, then by all means, let's go all the way with deregulation and caveat emptor.
The first step could be to eliminate the controlled substances act and prescriptions altogether. Let people buy their medications from anywhere, bypassing pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. Just like people are getting into home-brewing, home-made medications could become the next boom industry. Let the competition beware.
It could be the same for hospitals and doctors. Why should I be locked in to a specific hospital when it might be much cheaper to go to "Discount Eddie's Surgery Clinic and Laundromat." I could go in, do my laundry, and have my gallbladder removed while I wait. "Kidney Removal - 2 For 1 Special!" That kind of thing. If they really want the private sector and the rules of the free market to apply, then I can't see any reason the medical community would object, unless they're hypocrites (which wouldn't be any great surprise).
We're probably headed in that direction anyway. People may be forced to seek out cheaper options, even if they have to go underground. I know people who routinely go to Mexico for dental care and pharmaceuticals.
Provided there are strong false advertising regulations, I'm perfectly okay with opening the health care provider lists to include more practitioners. This may be a case where HSA's reform comes into play. Don't ban HSA's (Obamacare) and allow HSA's to be spent on conventional care and "alternative" care.
You want to see health care spend drop? Let people allocate up to some % of their paycheck towards that end and allow employers to add funding if they want and let those dollars go towards conventional/alternative medical costs, with the caveat that whatever isn't spent, goes into the employee's pocket. Two competing desires there. Employees, obviously, want to be healthy and they will also be motivated to spend as little as that as necessary. There would need to be caps on how much could be contributed to the accounts since it would end up being tax free, but how fuckin' cool would that be?
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What I support:
- A Conservative interpretation of the US Constitution
- Personal Responsibility
- Help for the truly needy
- Limited Government
- Consumption Tax (non-profit charities and food exempt)
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Private sector is efficient? explain!!!! - 
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