How 'It's Covered by Insurance' Wrecks Health Care

Health care in the U.S. is now a money moving industry. And "health insurance" partners do everything they can to take in money and everything they can to keep it.

I've said for a long time if people were actually responsible for spending their health dollars, they would be far less wasteful, they would look for the best price, they wouldn't be such spendthrifts. Insurance is a middle man that makes a great deal of money. Eliminate the middle man. Cash pay system that employers, the government, and charity can contribute to in any number of ways. Let the market rule.

A very good and accurate commentary on the root cause forces which are destroying our health care system. And, the centralization of control has meant a serious loss of autonomy for doctors. A long term aquaintence is a MD, and I asked him if I could become a patient. He said, yes, he'd love to have me as a patient. I had confidence in his competence, and knew his attitudes about life meshed with mine, was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, his practice was bought up by a large health care company a few years ago, and they say "no more Medicare patients". I contacted him about that and he said he no longer had any say in which patients he could see, and he was very sorry about it. This is driving many docs to tell their children to avoid the profession, that "it's not a job you want to do any more". This means that we will be getting more and more foreigners who studied in some Bangladesh medical school, or Iranian medical school and have, IMO, questionable skills.

EVERYTHING the government touches becomes a HUGE quagmire - healthcare included - and with very little oversight becomes a MONUMENTAL black hole for thieves. 99% of the ads you see on tv for wraps, canes, scooters, etc. are billed to & paid by Medicare, obamacare only made it MUCH MUCH WORSE. Medicare has neither the time, resources, nor inclination to curtail the overbilling, so yes, we the taxpayers are getting royally fleeced!

I needed a CAT scan a while back, and the scheduling nurse asked where I wanted to get it done. I asked "What are my choices and what's the difference?" She said that a particular hospital, across the street from their office could do it, or I could choose "So and So Imaging Services" a mile or two away. Again I asked, "What's the difference?" She explained that the hospital probably costs $2500 and the imaging service runs something under $1000, although she hadn't looked at prices in a while. I asked if there was any difference in quality, and she said there wasn't, and the non-hospital could probably schedule it more quickly. So, I chose the less expensive option...even though it would be paid for by Medicare and insurance. IMO, rewarding a company that is more cost competitive with your business is a good choice for everyone involved. And I found the staff to be extremely friendly, competent and helpful, and the facility to be very nice in every way. It sure didn't look like they were cutting corners, just being more efficient.

Back during the Clinton administration the EPA decided to take the fluorocarbon propellant out of asthma inhalers because it "harmed the ozone layer". A canister of albuterol at that time cost $7 without insurance. The new HFA(no fluorocarbon) type costs $170. A lady from the Clinton administration was questioned by congress about the huge increase in cost. She said almost no one would notice the cost because the insurance companies would pay for it. She apparently had no idea or didn't care what it would do to the cost of insurance. Nor what it would do to the uninsured who needed the medication.

Worked at a VA hospital for six years. MOST medical students were from outside the US and weren’t the type to care one bit about veterans. These louts eventually become the physician leaders. The country you grew up in died long ago, probably while you were busy playing Bobby Kennedy and badmouthing patriots from the South.

I kid you not... I had a friend who, about 15 years ago, told me he was going to make an appointment to see his doctor for a recurring bleeding booger when he picked his nose.

Boy. This surely taps one of my hot buttons. A couple of years ago, I had a hemotologist/oncologist who worked in an agressive hospital corporation where I received cancer treatment. I was finished with the chemo, but had a small lingering problem the Dr was trying to fix. Her first try was a drug called Jakafi. I was not enthusiastic nor was I gung ho about it...until I received my drug statement. This little drug would cost my Medicare/Tricare for Life $21,000 a month! I was appalled and told her so. She almost said, "Yes, but your insurance......." I told her I didn't care what my insurance covered to please find me another drug. The next drug was Interon shots every week at about $10-$12,000 a month—plus my hair started to fall out AGAIN, and I was tired all the time. Now I feel great and I don't see Dr. Agrawal anymore. She is practicing her agressive medical arts on someone else.

Insurance is private (was) socialization of risk. Equal treatment for unequal events in peoples lives. Although voluntary, it has the same devastating economic effects of separating the payment process from the services rendered. The notion that someone else is paying, or worse some evil corporate entity, takes the care for costs out of the decision making process. It boils down to Milton Freedman's 4 ways of paying for things. Your money on yourself where you care about both cost and quality, your money on someone else where you care about cost but not quality, and people using other people's money to spend on other people where neither cost nor quality matter.

My father-in-law had the best health insurance. He never paid more than $1 for any medication, almost nothing for lab work and visits. He would make appointments and visit with a host of physicians on a weekly basis. He and his wife treated these visits like a social outing. They would top off a day of doctor hopping with a nice meal at their favorite place. I'm sure the doctor's didn't mind as they were paid full price for the appointment. When you have no skin in the game it is easy to abuse the system. No skin of your nose, right? Well it does add up, quickly, and eventually they had their benefits cut. It was still good insurance but co-pays and deductibles and other patient fees starting showing up. He cut back on his "visits" when he had to crack open his own wallet.

My late grandma used trips to her doctors as outings and social calls. There was nothing wrong with her. She was bored and enjoyed making my mom, her daughter-in-law, cart her all over town. And we, the taxpayers, paid for it. I lost a lot of respect for my grandma because of this. It’s wrong to waste resources, tax dollars...all of it. I know tax money is wasted badly all over the place but it all counts.

Doctors & hospitals take advantage tooo...Medicare & Medicaid are making them wealthy.