I agree with this. I believe many European countries have a mix of public and private health care; it reduces the burden on the public system.
And even a small co-pay stops many people from going to the emergency room when they have a cold.
And the privatization of Medicaid (medical welfare) has some other hidden benefits:
First of all; Medicaid is often a deadbeat debtor. For decades, Maine owed the hospitals $400 million (until just recently under Governor LePage) and even that was an agreed upon/reduced settlement, as the result of a lawsuit. Medicaid generally pays providers at a rate of pennies on the dollar. The privatized version would pay commercial rates, alleviating much "cost shifting" for bad debt and charity care. (the eight dollar aspirin)
the burden on the public system.
The only remaining "burden" would be taxpayer dollars going towards the subsidized premiums of the truly needy, which is still cheaper than paying unregulated claims, as it is now.
One legislative "trick" would be to make the "full buy-in" (unsubsidized-premium) Medicaid benefits less generous than those available on the private market, and at a lower premium.
even a small co-pay stops many people from going to the emergency room when they have a cold.
Exactly, the clinical term being: "over-utilization".