[JustSurrounded]

So, a flat fee, regardless of number of visits to the doctor or treatment selected, is going to promote 'better, more patient centric care'? Right. And we get the 'no loss of revenue for the physician' because now the doc will get paid whether he bothers to follow up appropriately with the patient.

Seems every time government or insurance steps in, the patient suffers.

[Zathras]

For those who don’t know, United Healthcare is run by SEIU on both the east and west coasts.

[Still Thinking]

Exactly. Normally, I favor letting industries regulate themselves because the result, while imperfect, is usually better than what you'd get if know-nothing bureaucrats were in charge of the regs.

But the insurance industry is unique in that they seem to have a business model based on the government: Give us a bunch of money, then WE make your decisions for you.

So yes, the industry needs reform, but not MORE government intrusion, the things we hate about them are because they're too government-like NOW. The answer is to abolish insurance for normal use and give everyone HSA's in conjunction with a catastrophic policy, so the insurers aren't even involved 99% of the time. Or just remove healthcare's special status and make it all after-tax again like before WWII (with corresponding across-the-board rate reductions so it doesn't put more money in undeserving government hands).