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Why can’t health insurance be more like auto insurance?

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by

mwkruse
in ,

Christian Science Monitor: Why can't health insurance be more like auto insurance?

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Imagine how much automobile insurance would cost if it paid for all expenses associated with owning an automobile – oil changes, engine failures, worn-out tires, brakes, rust, and so on. The number of people who couldn't afford car insurance would rise dramatically, and we would have a car insurance crisis in America.

That is the situation with healthcare. As health plans increasingly pay for almost every service or procedure, ameliorate our every discomfort, and succumb to every cultural whim and fad, the price of insurance continues to rise. …

Comments

6 responses to “Why can’t health insurance be more like auto insurance?”

  1. Travis Greene Avatar
    Travis Greene

    Except I can’t trade in my difficult to insure body for an easier to ensure one like I can trade a red sports car for a Volvo. Plus, bodies aren’t optional.
    Healthcare just isn’t like other things.

    Reply
  2. Michael W. Kruse Avatar
    Michael W. Kruse

    Food, like health care, is essential to keeping our bodies alive. Should we have a national food insurance system that runs the entire production, distribution and consumption of food? It does not follow that because something is necessary that it should be administered by a centralized government body or through an all encompassing insurance program.

    Reply
  3. Travis Greene Avatar
    Travis Greene

    True. But the market for food encourages food providers to provide people food. The market for insurance encourages healthcare providers to deny people healthcare.

    Reply
  4. Michael W. Kruse Avatar
    Michael W. Kruse

    The author writes:
    “Under the system I am proposing, health insurance would pay for emergencies and urgent care, diagnostic tests and X-rays, medically necessary surgery, hospitalization, therapy, and any other critical services that few people could afford to pay out of their own pockets. Individuals would pay for routine, discretionary, and elective services – such as doctor visits, acupuncture, marriage counseling – on their own.”
    Yes to insurance for the first category of health care but no to the rest. Market competition to provide these “routine, discretionary, and elective services” would create competition to provide them and make them cheaper and more accessible … just like food. That’s what I’m saying.

    Reply
  5. Travis Greene Avatar
    Travis Greene

    Skeptical. People already don’t get preventive care that would ultimately push down costs. Push the burden entirely onto them, and see how many more poor people call 911 just to go to the doctor.

    Reply
  6. Michael W. Kruse Avatar
    Michael W. Kruse

    However, one of the problems presently is that millions who are eligible for Medicaid/Medicare haven’t signed up for it. Others who have the insurance never go to the doctor. There are a variety of reasons including feeling intimidated by medical professionals, and inconvenient locations and hours.
    If there were competition, service providers would find ways to make themselves more accessible., affordable and promote their services. More patients, more money. We are already seeing this happen with in store clinics like at Walgreens or Wal-Mart. Competition would likely increase demand for the services.

    Reply

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