Radiologist Dr. Milton Wolfe, who is, you will recall, the MEC's cousin, provides the best explanation I've ever seen on why health care - particularly health insurance - has been so fraught with problems for so long.
He says he routinely asks audiences to which he speaks if health insurance is a mess. Nearly all hands in the room go up. Then he asks if auto insurance is a mess. Few hands or none. What is the difference? There are several. You buy your own auto insurance. IF you don't like your company or agency, you can take your business elsewhere. Also, it pays for matters like wrecks, but notr routine maintenence like oil changes.
He then lists the first set of things the post-MEC government will need to do to establish that health care is a product like any other, thereby eradicating the messiness from the way it is delivered.
1st party auto coverage covers sudden and accidental events. So, unless it's mechanical breakdown coverage, oil changes are irrelevent. By the way, there is mechanical breakdown coverage available which will cover oil changes, or deny your claim if you don't produce proof of regular oil changes. Most health plans cover preventive services because it's loss prevention or loss control. Take that mole on your face. If it aint removed it might just kill the body. Oh well, anything but universal health coverage, right? Most of you bellyachers actually have little idea what you are talking about when it comes to insurance.
ReplyDeleteWhile we're at it here, why not entertain ourselves watching the top 10 insurance commercials here: http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2012/05/01/top-10-best-insurance-commercials-on-tv
We know exactly what we're talking about. It's a product like any other. In a free market, those offering the product would bust their nuts to provide the most competitive products and rates to consumers, and most health care would be paid for out of pocket.
ReplyDeleteIn a truly free-market, competitive environment, you could choose between the policy that covered the mole removal and the one that didn't, depending on your own set of factors, such as how much you're willing to spend in premiums and how much of a risk you wish to take by leaving it there if your policy doesn't cover the removal.
ReplyDeleteBTW, is Dr. Wolfe among those who "don't know what they're talking about"? What do you have to say about the measures he proposes to get us to a free-market solution?