[quote=SDEngineer]
And this is exactly what is being proposed – a public plan which will compete as a not for profit alternative to the private insurors.
The advantages should be clear – the private insurors will now have an incentive to reduce costs and expand coverages, which is the exact opposite of their incentives today. Insurance companies have no incentives to control costs today, since they can pass any expenses directly on to their consumers (which, of course they have been doing), and still take their 15% on every transaction, while making every attempt (frequently successful) to decline coverage on any medical expenses that would lead to significant losses on their part. Health plans today are far more restrictive on benefits than they were even 10 years ago – because we’re essentially a captive market to a relatively small group of insurors who all have the same profit motive, and that group is relatively immune to competition, because of the extremely high barrier of entry to competitors (it’s not like you or I could decide to found a healthcare insurance agency to compete with them).[/quote]
It’s a fine line. I hope they pull it off. They didn’t reference Germany or other European country in their example of universal health care, but they reference Canada A LOT. I just hope they don’t go to that extreme. One huge difference between us vs everyone else is malpractice insurance. Here in the US, we can sue for almost anything. A doctor career can be destroyed by 1-2 lawsuit. That in itself contribute to the huge cost. That’s also one of the many reasons why 90% of med students decide to go into specialized area instead of general practice.
Sorry, I never have to look for health insurance. My employers have always provided that to me. So, it’s not the question of who should I choose but more a long the line of, PPO vs HMO. My health care insurance is better today than it was 6 years ago because the employer decided to give a really good plan. My out of pocket either stayed the same or went down (don’t remember exactly).
