I understand and can agree with your points. Essentially, you are taking mine a step further. Yes, the shift to first dollar coverage is a problem and pretty much feeds the theory of overuse of medical care. That is one issue. I also agree with your point regarding improvements in technology and drugs. Naturally, in any other field of consumerism, if a product is improved upon, it normally costs more. After all, isn’t that why there is the saying, “you get what you pay for”? The problem is that we live in an entitled society. A lot of this entitlement comes from the Santa Claus government telling people they deserve this or that regarding health care and making promises they can’t keep. So now we all feel entitled to Cadillac health care without paying for it, totally disregarding the fact there is a direct correlation between price and quality increases. People don’t step back and think ‘how much would I pay (from my own money) to live another 10 years?’ They just know that a cure could be out there and they are entitled to it..regardless of the cost. Now, I am not saying that people should go uninsured for catastrophic medical emergencies or be dropped for pre-existing conditions. There is a gap that needs to be closed. But if people think they are going to get the best health care on earth for the lowest price or prices similar to other countries with less quality care…they are dreaming and truly have an entitlement mentality. That in itself is one of the problems with health care, which ultimately isn’t really a problem with health care but with the individual.
Insurance companies and the individual need to meet in the middle. As much as I hate saying it, if government can facilitate that..fine. However, I don’t have much faith in government facilitating anything because they are driven by special interests and their ability to prolong their political career by giving us things that are politically palatable based on our societies desire to be politically correct. Until they prove me otherwise, I will hold onto that belief.
