Posted on 10/05/2014 9:08:15 AM PDT by Oldpuppymax
Have you heard about the insurance company that provides free health coverage for the poor? Me neither. What about the hospital that provides free health care services to the poor? Of course, you say. Many of them do! Indeed, some of these hospitals even go bankrupt in the process.
It is beyond the scope of this article to discern how economic values are set in a society, but rest assured that supply and demand are but one factor—especially in health care. Notably, health care is the most regulated industry in the country. With compliance comes massive additional costs, not to mention a gigantic subset of parasitic appendages, of which the health insurance companies are the largest. But, how is health insurance related to the regulation of health care?
Bear in mind that the original concept of health insurance was much like any other form of casualty insurance, such as fire insurance. The idea is that in the case of a significant loss—a structure damaging fire, for example—insurance would provide full or partial compensation. Never was there—or is there currently—the notion that this insurance would also cover all routine maintenance and repairs done on the structure.
Likewise, at the outset, health insurance was intended to cover only extraordinary situations, such as significant hospital stays. Then, in 1965, Medicare was introduced into LBJ’s Great Society. In theory, Medicare regulation was supposed to...
(Excerpt) Read more at coachisright.com ...
As Medicare and private insurance strike back against providers with lower reimbursements, and denials of care, more large providers and hospitals will drop out of insurance or go out of business.
In poor areas, only heavily government subsidized facilities could exist. However, small clinic models that accept cash only, could emerge even in poorer communities. Obviously, these clinics could not provide advanced services and procedures, but they could treat relatively common conditions at vastly lower costs than the ER. A high clinic staffed with mid-levels and overseen by a physician would be able to legally circumvent many Medicare requirements and save on billing costs. Sure, it would be assembly line medicine, but it would be better for many than clogged ERs.
If ebola gets out of hand, and I believe it will, you will see the national guard stationed at hospitals preventing the infected from entering.
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