The Free Market is like life itself. It will find a way, even in the most inhospitable of environments.
In December my wife had to have a CAT scan. At the clinic where it was done, they told us the co-pay would be $780, but, if we paid for it outright, it was $384. Also, the out of pocket cost for paying for the review of the CAT scan was $75, $325 if we ran it through our insurance.
Outlawing insurance would lower the cost of healthcare.
Actually, what’s coming will be a LOT of medical tourism. Smarter countries will set up high-quality hospitals, primarily staffed by their own nationals, but with Western-Trained (if not Westerners) doctors.
When the math is done, they will be cheaper than insurance co-pays and deductibles. In other words, we will have successfully OUTSOURCED medicine, just as we did with manufacturing.
Luckily we still have lawyers here - LOL.
About TIME! Considering most 'health' care doesn't even cover dental, I recently had to get dental services and went to a direct-pay place who takes NO insurance whatsoever - and payed less than half of what it would have cost by going to a 'regular' dentist.
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By putting a middle man [insurance] between you and the person providing the service, all you can do is increase the cost. It seems like simple, basic economics to me.
And no one has been able to explain to me exactly HOW 'insurance' is nothing more than government-sactioned GAMBLING!
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The People have an inalienable Right to private contract - to purchase property from someone at an agreed price, and it doesn't matter if it's a used car, and ourgrown child's toy, a gun OR health care services.
Yet you can bet your bottom dollar that direct pay medical services WILL become government's next target!
[sigh]
Back in the 80’s I worked for an internist. Charges incurred were for office as well as hospital care. If you had no insurance, he would accept small monthly payments. He was wonderful. People paid faithfully small amounts til bill was paid in full.
There are practices in Central Texas that are doing the same thing. We are seeking them out for our medical needs. May they thrive.
This kind of thing is happening all over.
I know of one doctor who is doing this and going back to paper records
Sounds fine, until you read that they’ll still take Medicare.
Hard to yank that nipple out of your mouth, isn’t it?
If you had ANY concept of the absurd tap-and-shuffle providers have to go through to try and get paid for their services, you would not blame them a bit. Some of them frankly would even prefer single payer to the current train wreck.
My brother has a high-deductible insurance policy. He recently injured his knee and elected to not involve the insurance company to pay toward his deductible and just dealt with the doctor directly. His bill for x-rays of his knee and the doctor evaluation was $100. Going back to the old days of patient-to-doctor payments for incidents like this is what doctors should be encouraging. Anything to strangle the insurance companies’ influence in healthcare can only be positive.
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