How do we counter it? Here’s a start:
1. Philosophically, in order for one person to get medical care without paying for it, another person must pay for medical care without getting it.
2. Go to a “loser pays” civil tort system; if you sue your doctor for malpractice and lose, you pay his legal expenses. This cuts down on “defensive medicine” and the attendant costs.
3. Charge everyone who gets a particular service the same amount. The guy in the story was billed $10,000 for one hospital visit. Had he been insured, the hospital probably would have accepted $2000 from his insurance company as payment-in-full.
There was a story going around a month or two ago about a guy who needed an operation, and was expected to pay the insurance deductibles in advance, which he couldn’t afford. He spent some time discussing the situation with the hospital, anesthesiologist and surgeon and ultimately paid cash for the entire operation in an amount less than what his insurance deductible would have been.
There’s a place in Oklahoma (Oklahoma Surgery Center) that performs surgery, cash-only for about 20% of what traditional hospitals charge.
How’s that for a start?
“Point to a system where this person would receive care as you demand.”
Allow the writer to point, and then demonstrate that no, they patient would not have received timely care.
Then tell them to go find a solution, because taking my money at the point of a gun is not going to work, either.