Thread: Government & Healthcare

I am wondering why the government has to be involved with healthcare? Why can't healthcare be a part of the free market just like everything else like housing, cars, food, and other necessities most people need or use? How did we ever come to the time when the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies and such lobbied ithe government like they do?
I work in healthcare and I'm currently working mainly to keep my insurance. Would love to similar-retire but can't do that until I turn 65. (I'm not brave enough to put this statement out on Facebook).

There's the government itself, the judicial system, the police, military, firefighters etc. It's all a question of what voters see as fit for being provided as basic services. As an example, do the police and firefighters only protect paying customers and to what degree ? What about roads, should they all be toll roads ? The list goes on.

This will sound a bit unusual but health care costs are determined by health care providers. A doc could put up a price list but truth be told, they have variable pricing, billing codes, etc.. Docs don't even know what they charge, they have "coders" who do that.

It's all a racket.

If you were doing business as usual with a doc, you would ask "how much?"... If he told you it was going to be $45.00 for the Q-tip, $90.00 for the band-aid and another $200.00 for the visit, you'd walk away and find a more competitive doc. But, since you are insulated from costs they get away with all manner of theft.

It's all about billing codes. How much they can whack the insurance provider for.

Actually the insurance companies are the ones who put the "price" on every billing code. The doctor has no say in what they charge any more unless the patient is a cash pay/no insurance. If the doctor accepts a certain insurance they have a fee schedule that has been given to them by that insurance company. If it were up to the doctor, a cash pay patient in most cases you might even pay less than a copay. The doctors have had to hire so many more staff members to accommodate all the insurance claims and government regulations.
Anyway, my question was why should the government be in the insurance business and why should insurance be a part of the government except for Medicare and Medicaid (which is all contracted out to insurance companies)

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Originally Posted by Joy

Actually the insurance companies are the ones who put the "price" on every billing code. The doctor has no say in what they charge any more unless the patient is a cash pay/no insurance. If the doctor accepts a certain insurance they have a fee schedule that has been given to them by that insurance company. If it were up to the doctor, a cash pay patient in most cases you might even pay less than a copay. The doctors have had to hire so many more staff members to accommodate all the insurance claims and government regulations.
Anyway, my question was why should the government be in the insurance business and why should insurance be a part of the government except for Medicare and Medicaid (which is all contracted out to insurance companies)

Doctors can do business off of a price list, they are not beholden to insurance companies. Maybe if they were forced to compete, their rates would plummet and insurance premiums would soon follow.

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http://www.medicarehelp.org/cost-of-...-complications

Insurance is not "Health Care". Health care providers provide health care at exorbitant rates. If docs weren't operating under special laws designed to protect predatory pricing most of them would be in jail for fraud, theft and all manner of financial crime.

I'm not sure who made those charts but our doctors and all the ones I know and have worked for only get the fees the insurance/Medicare/Medicaid pay and the balance is adjusted off. The pt pays their co-pay, their deductible, and the 20% their insurance doesn't pay. Medicare and most insurance policies are 80/20 plans. But I'm not here to argue fees. I do have quite a bit of knowledge about fees and costs in healthcare because I have 40 years of experience in it. Our office does have a fee schedule for self-pay patients and that is much lower than insurance patients because we don't have to file a claim and go thru the whole process of haggling with insurance for payment.
I just don't understand why everyone wants healthcare to be paid for or controlled by the government. I feel like very soon we will be paying our whole paychecks in taxes. If the government provides insurance then soon they will provide housing, food, and other necessities.

Inefficient government seems to be the problem. From the recent news it seems that you are bogged down further by a federal system having to deal with regulations in 50 different states. Norway has few problems in comparison but is more comparable to a small state. Maybe if things were run at the state level with simpler federal guidelines then things would be better.

Originally Posted by Joy

I am wondering why the government has to be involved with healthcare? Why can't healthcare be a part of the free market just like everything else like housing, cars, food, and other necessities most people need or use? How did we ever come to the time when the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies and such lobbied ithe government like they do?
I work in healthcare and I'm currently working mainly to keep my insurance. Would love to similar-retire but can't do that until I turn 65. (I'm not brave enough to put this statement out on Facebook).

The short answer, in my view, is that civilized societies take care of the weak among them; they don't just let them die on the side of the road. We're a wealthy nation and we can afford to provide health care to our seniors, working class families, and poor; therefore, we should!!

Just my opinion, and I respect the fact you may differ in your view of things.

Think what would happen if firefighters and police demanded insurance papers before rescuing people from fires or perpetrators. Or sent you a $20,000 bill after doing their job. I agree with you that a civilized nation should provide basic health care free of charge but to what degree is debatable. And efficiency is very important with something as expensive as that.

Originally Posted by njtom

The short answer, in my view, is that civilized societies take care of the weak among them; they don't just let them die on the side of the road. We're a wealthy nation and we can afford to provide health care to our seniors, working class families, and poor; therefore, we should!!

Just my opinion, and I respect the fact you may differ in your view of things.