As others have said, we can look to other countries for examples of health insurance being done well. Insurance serves an important function for things that would otherwise create large debt unpredictably. It just doesn’t work well as a for-profit non-utility industry.
I would say the main issue for the US is the actual healthcare providers charging so much. Insurance companies do enable that in a sense by allowing people to get healthcare that otherwise would be unaffordable. Members are insulated from the cost and simply want their desired care approved, so hospitals take advantage of this by charging increasingly ludicrous amounts. And since at minimum 80% of health insurance premium revenue must go to paying member services, this means coverage costs inevitably spiral.
Insurance companies disappearing would eventually lead to lower prices since patients would no longer be able to afford healthcare, but that’s obviously not a good solution. Government regulating the price of healthcare more directly would allow insurance to be both cheaper and more optional.
No. France’s health insurance has many issues, but… I recently had to wait one whole month to get non-urgent jaw surgery at the top hospital in the country. Stayed for a week. It should cost me 50€ or so, including meds and post-op care.
Privatised healthcare providers are also an issue.
Or, if you want private capital involved on either side - overall de-/non-regulation is a major problem too.
There are so many instruments the govs could use but just don’t bcs monies.
Health insurance is 90% of the problem
As others have said, we can look to other countries for examples of health insurance being done well. Insurance serves an important function for things that would otherwise create large debt unpredictably. It just doesn’t work well as a for-profit non-utility industry.
I would say the main issue for the US is the actual healthcare providers charging so much. Insurance companies do enable that in a sense by allowing people to get healthcare that otherwise would be unaffordable. Members are insulated from the cost and simply want their desired care approved, so hospitals take advantage of this by charging increasingly ludicrous amounts. And since at minimum 80% of health insurance premium revenue must go to paying member services, this means coverage costs inevitably spiral.
Insurance companies disappearing would eventually lead to lower prices since patients would no longer be able to afford healthcare, but that’s obviously not a good solution. Government regulating the price of healthcare more directly would allow insurance to be both cheaper and more optional.
No. France’s health insurance has many issues, but… I recently had to wait one whole month to get non-urgent jaw surgery at the top hospital in the country. Stayed for a week. It should cost me 50€ or so, including meds and post-op care.
Nah. Germany has health insurance and while it’s far from perfect, it’s on a different planet compared to US health insurance.
Privatised healthcare providers are also an issue.
Or, if you want private capital involved on either side - overall de-/non-regulation is a major problem too.
There are so many instruments the govs could use but just don’t bcs monies.