tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481294.post2969081689948873879..comments2023-10-21T15:35:14.774-04:00Comments on David's Tangled Thoughts: My Two Cents on Healthcare (Because that’s Its Value Now)Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00127042364846361909noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481294.post-54722316486254282772009-08-09T10:36:16.437-04:002009-08-09T10:36:16.437-04:00I think the company that hires me should be able t...<i>I think the company that hires me should be able to provide me a list with insurance companies that they participate with and then I can choose a provider and a policy that works best for me.</i><br /><br />And after you get that, ask for a golden baby unicorn, too! Dream big or go home. :)<br /><br />Truthfully, though, that will never happen because of the notion of "health insurance" itself and the concept of adverse selection. Health insurance companies make money by collecting premiums from people who specifically don't use their services. However, those are also the people less likely to buy health insurance, either via a private payer or employee sponsored. In general, people who are anticipating large medical bills are the ones who buy insurance and, thus, the insurance company loses profit.<br /><br />It therefore never behooves an insurance company's business model to offer "choice" in plans a pricing structure, at least not too much. Certainly, some anticipating greater medical costs would opt for the higher-end plans, but should those costs materialize, the insurance company stands to pay out more money than they made from those high-end purchasers as well as the money they made from low-end purchasers who rarely if ever use their plans. Obama's work around on this is mandating that everyone must have coverage. This theoretically gives the insurance companies more incentive to play the numbers game. Sure, they can add high end-plans knowing they'll lose money on them, but they will have more aggressive buyers for the low end plans because, legally, everyone will have to have one. So our nation's health becomes a pure numbers game.<br /><br />My problem with this, other than a profound skepticism it'll actually work, is that the health insurance company model in this nation is borked in the first place and all the current health reform bills seek to do is transpose the private sector model into public government. So instead of having a health care system that doesn't work, we'll have a federally implemented health care system that doesn't work. <br /><br />However, with that said, I still support reform and Obama's plan in general. It's clear the system as it currently stands does not work. Obama's plan represents the best, most realistic effort we've had so far (or currently have at all) to try and address at least some of the issues.<br /><br />Although, when you hear stories about people contacting their senators to say things like "Keep your government hands off my Medicaid", I do start to wonder if a working health care system is advisable as, clearly, some people are too stupid to live...QuakerJonohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13429026512255898056noreply@blogger.com