[syriacus]

"This is traditional medicine. This is what America was like 30 years ago

I've wondered, on and off, if there wasn't something good about the old system.

[mountaineer]

My mother has kept the cancelled check from the hospital bill for my birth - paid in full at a little over $300. Compare and contrast to modern times!

[SauronOfMordor]

I've wondered, on and off, if there wasn't something good about the old system.

In the old system, medical expenses were fully deductable, and there was no 1040 "short form". There thus was no tax advantage to having employer-provided health care versus the employer paying you the cash and you buying your own health care, with maybe a (self-purchased) hospitalization policy

[stylin_geek]

I wonder what would happen to the currently overloaded system if everyone had to pay cash? Think fewer people would run to the doctor for every little ache and pain? Think it would relieve some of the burden?