[Dean's World] Andrew Cory: Healthcare Blues

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Posted by Andrew Cory:
Healthcare Blues
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1158780542.shtml


   I have long believed that the American system of health care is nuts.
   Basically, Americans go to a bookie (called a "health insurance
   agent") and make a bet that they won't get sick. If they do, the
   bookie pays out. The bookie has absolute incentive to pay as little as
   possible-- and has the discretion on what to pay for. Americans don't
   have the discretion, doctors don't have the discretion, the bookie has
   the discretion. Does that seem crazy to anyone else?

   Worse than that, when the bookie does lose their bet, they have the
   power to decide that they [1]weren't actually covering you anyway.
   Crazy crazy crazy...

   (Link stolen from [2]Ezra Klein, who said:

     We rely almost exclusively on private insurers whose primary
     business imperative is not to pay when we get sick. They do that by
     seeking to deny coverage before the fact, or reject claims
     afterwards. They pay for platoons of employees who have no job
     other than scrutinized thousands of policies a week to find
     sufficient cause for cancellation. Say what you will about the
     inefficiencies of the public sector, but can it really match the
     ruthlessness and absurdity of insurers spending large amounts of
     money so they don't have to insure? Is that sort of profit motive
     really what you want underlying your health care coverage?

References

   1. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-revoke17sep17,0,1214150.story
   2. http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/make_you_feel_s.html