The reasons health care costs were rising so fast before obamacare were STILL all because of government regulations.
As soon as they made it a tax deductable ‘benefit’ your boss could give you, it took the cost awareness out of your pocket.
You shop around for cheap auto insurance and homeowner and life insurance, but you don’t shop for health insurance - you get it from your boss.
And the ‘co-pay’s were another bad idea. No matter where you shop, you pay the same co-pay. So the local drug store can charge $100 for the same drug the guy down the street sells for $50 and you don’t care, you only pay the same co-pay, no matter what.
Get the government out of it. Relive businesses of having to have an entire HR department dedicated to your health, instead of their normal business. Let people buy wherever they want- what difference does it make if I buy it from a company based in NY or NH?
Get the government out of it and let the free market do its work and it will sort itself out. (eventually)
Uh, no.
Insurance companies negotiate rates with various pharmacies. I highly doubt the actual amount paid by the insurance company varies that much, whether you use Walmart or Walgreens pharmacy.
Co-pays are an alternative to paying nothing and having insurance pay the bill for everything. The intention is to limit unnecessary expenses by making the user have some skin in the game. If my insurance merely covers ER visits, I go when I have a sniffle. If it costs me a co-pay, I may choose otherwise.
Now, whether it is "insurance" to pay for routine medical expenses and medicines is another question entirely. The only way to contain costs is to get away from 3rd party payment and let the market function. Return "insurance" to its proper role of paying for unexpected events.
And stop making EVERYONE carry maternity care and pediatric dentistry in their health plans.
“Get the government out of it and let the free market do its work and it will sort itself out. (eventually)”
I couldn’t agree with you more. I greatly APPRECIATE the health insurance my employer provides for me, BUT we’ve changed providers 2x in the past 5 years to comply with 0bamacare and for them to save $ at the Corporate level.
It’s been a mess, AND they took away my FlexPlan, which was a VERY generous benefit form my employer. That’s $1,300.00 I’ve been OUT each year for OTC meds, dental care and glasses, for the past 5 years, too. $6,500.00 LOST to me - and don’t kid yourself - they didn’t give that BACK to me in a pay raise! So, I run around with 5-year old glasses and get my teeth cleaned 2x a year, instead of the 3x my dental tech would prefer.
Yep. It’s been a costly mess to those of us down here in the trenches. Government pretty much ruins everything it, ‘fixes.’ *Rolleyes*