That said, there is also the problem of the AMA not disciplining some of their doctors who ‘serial malpractice suit’ recipients. You also have some doctors that order excessive tests, or tests that are effectively duplicates (same but different) because of kickbacks, because they want to find a way to justify surgery when not needed. Add in a bit of crazy tort awards and the attempts of insurance companies to ‘increase their bottom line’ and the result is that everyone else gets hosed.
Now we want to make insurance mandatory?.. didn’t anybody learn from the mandatory auto insurance in California? It was touted as a way to reduce insurance costs.. but it didn’t. Why were people surprised that it didn’t? Create a captive demand in a market and only one thing happens – prices go up. California voters got so annoyed that they even created another bureaucracy – Insurance commissioner.. which really hasn’t done anything anyway.
What really needs to happen is that people need to get more involved in their health and decisions related to their health. There needs to be reform in how doctors are disciplined, as well as tort reform. Throwing it ‘over the wall’ to insurance will not achieve this. Insurance will only pass on the cost to the customer with their management fees added – The money that insurance companies use to pay the claims – comes from their insured.
