Just contracting out services to the private sector won’t work. The key to the efficiencies achieved by private enterprise is market pricing. As long as the government is setting prices nothing will change.
Just as with Chrysler, govt will determine not only price, but which and how many doctors will be included in approved ‘provider groups’. Large numbers of solo and small group doctors will be excluded and access to the number of MDs accessed now will be reduced.
I had some surgery once and commented to the doc “That sure is expensive! But I would also hate to see your insurance bills.”
He replied that is one problem, but more so was that he can only charge a little to many of his patients. I’m not sure if it was rates dictated by insurance, if he was compelled by law to still treat them even if they couldn’t pay much, or if he was personally motivated to help them without charging more - although what he said next seemed that it was forced: “Whoever tells you we don’t already have socialized medicine - don’t believe them.”
Under this type of an arrangement you're always dealing with: (1) a patient who doesn't care about the cost of the service because he's not paying it; and (2) a third-party entity that doesn't care about the quality of the service because it's not directly affected by it.