Healthcare Reform and Patient Choice

Right now there is no real competition in the health care industry. They are all fighting with one another to get payments from the government, through medicare or medicaid, and the insurance companies.

If there never was health insurance, doctors would never have been able to charge as much as they do with insurance. In the beginning, insurance was a good deal for doctors and they made a lot of money. Lawyers found them and insurance companies to be a convenient way get large sums of money. This cause a rise in malpractice insurance premiums, with the doctors still wanting high fees for their services, so fees have continued to rise over the years.

It's the same deal with colleges and universities. It doesn't matter whether they are private or public, for profit or not, they are all fighting for Title iv loans and grants, which is usually where about 90% of most universities get their money. For those that go below 90%, then they are getting more more money from their state. With the use of online classes, there should be an economy of scale in offering the services, but even accredited online schools charge huge amounts of money. When ever the government starts opening up their pocket book, it tends to increase the cost of those services. I think it's an unintended consequence, but a consequence all the same.

Nothing by itself is going to fix the health care issue, but with out tort reform, and competitive services entering the health care industry, the real costs for most American will not go down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1cTLxTNw2M

Phil of IA 2:34PM November 24, 2009