“Unlike most Freepers, I don’t hold the GOP accountable for any “failure” on health care.”
I hold them accountable for failing at full repeal. With full repeal of O’Care there would have been a chance for market factors. Instead we have the worse in place in perpetuity - a huge government bureaucracy, rules & regs on the healthcare industry, virtually no competition in the private insurance market. As soon as the Democrats have the White House again the infrastructure is in place to reinstate crushing regulation on hospitals, doctors and other players.
Free markets work best with many competitors, rapid price discovery, and large open markets. We have none of the above in the healthcare industry. Obamacare has encouraged the formation of large oligopolies of healthcare providers, many of which are monopolies in individual markets. There is no pricing transparency for the individual - pricing at the provider level is negotiated by insurance cartels and is not visible to the individual. Membership in a cartel (employer group health plan) is required to get favorable pricing. In addition there is no interstate competition. Insurance is sold on a state by state basis under the regulatory authority of state insurance commissioners who make rules to preserve the power of the cartels.
Imagine what rapid price transparency could do in the current age of the internet. If providers were required to post the prices they charge for various services on their websites entrepreneurs would develop search engines for individuals to use. I could instantly see and compare the prices all the specialists in my local area charge for office visits and various procedures. I could see if cash discounts were offered. I could see that she charges Blue Cross customers 75% of the price of those with Humana insurance. Information gives consumers the power to push back on prices.
If the GOP Congress couldn’t fully repeal Obamacare (thank you John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski) it could have passed amendments to the legislation providing for pricing transparency by doctors and hospitals (i.e. list prices on the internet for cash sales and the prices extended to the individual insurance groups for each procedure). With this information, individuals would have the opportunity to shop providers and negotiate prices. Another amendment should have been passed to allow insurance companies to sell across state lines. A third amendment would have eliminated all mandated coverage (i.e. pediatric dentistry for 60 year olds, maternity benefits for men). This would have allowed health insurance suppliers to provide custom solutions for individuals and lower cost plans which didn’t include benefits specific individuals don’t require.
If something isn’t done to bring market competition, we will have single payer socialized healthcare within 10 years. The infrastructure is in place, costs are continuing to rise, the quality of care in 10 minute doctor visits is poor. As the Democrats planned, the day is coming when people will demand socialized medicine.
1. Americans can't afford the standard of health care they've come to expect as their God-given right -- no matter how it is delivered and financed.
2. As a result of this, "health care" in the U.S. has become nothing more than a multi-trillion dollar game built around deluding Americans that they have a God-given right to force other people to pay their medical bills.