Unfortunately no one came up with a better idea to fix the pre-existing condition problem. Besides European style systems, of course. The best anyone came up with was high risk pools, but that wouldn't have worked.
OT: Healthcare
- Thread starter FormerBully
- Start date
It should be noted that consumers hate it, companies hate dealing with it and healthcare workers hate it. The free market has not fixed healthcare. I don't know that anything will. The cost of developing drugs is outrageous. The cost of modern equipment/health tech is outrageous. The cost of regulatory compliance is outrageous and the cost of malpractice insurance is outrageous. I probably am missing some outrage somewhere. I want great healthcare with a $50 copay, or ideally none...
That's not exactly my intended argument. As I believe you agree from the below, eventually, you cant just have hc ins rerate every year until you die at 90. I mean you could, but old people would eventually not be able to afford it, and the system would politically fail.
So, any system must be based on the young covering for the old. And a free market cant do that.
Sure, we "choose" to not have a Logan's Run type system. Sure.
We could, other than the small problem that people would choose European socialized medicine before that. Tiny problem.
Its avoided all the time, by people who die suddenly. Young even.
But I think we're starting to be on the same page. You cant just re-rate hc ins every year until you die. Most people dont get this!
Sure, only govt distorts the pricing mechanism. Not asymmetric info, lack of price transparency, emergent life or death issues, or perverse incentives. Sure. Sure.
Real-time flexible rates based on smartwatch health trackers. Monthly rate tied to biometrics and exercise. Not dissimilar to the OBDII sensors that can be plugged into cars to understand driving metrics and adjust rates. I kid...mostly. The sad fact is that for people who don't have some tragic acute illness, disease or physical disability, exercise is the absolute best medicine, along with decent diet. If we monetized bad health choices, we wouldn't like the price...
This is where I’m at
I also pay off my house note when I’m 65
For a long while, I’ve thought about waiting until full retirement but too many people I know and have worked with have passed away in the past year…
There is no way to over emphasize your last sentence. There are probably more than 20 separate entities that all have competing interests in the US system BUT 100% single payer universal healthcare is not the answer...it could possibly help but I think you would end up with the same situation as public and private school and I don't mean good suburban public schools. As always I could be 100% wrong.There isnt just one better way, there are multiple better ways.
Below are a couple clips about what are some of the problems, but they are by no means all of the problems.
- One big problem is 4 of 6 large insurance companies(video) also own pharmacies, own medical practices, are Pharmacy Benefit Managers, AND are publicly traded(duty to maximize shareholder value).
When 4 massive companies make money managing health insurance and influence pricing at the Dr office, pricing at the pharmacy, and have a duty to maximize shareholder profit...health insurance users are not the priority.
- And when there is 0 internal penalty or repercussion for denying claims that should be approved, there is 0 incentive to change and improve the system for users.
- Tethering health insurance to employment hurts worker movement, which has a negative side effect of suppressing wages and family wealth growth in some instances.
Again, I recognize these are just part of a very large and complex problem.
Nebraska Hospital Association on Instagram: "Last week, the U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means held a hearing on health care affordability with testimony from health insurance CEO’s."
8 likes, 0 comments - nebraskahospitals on January 26, 2026: "Last week, the U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means held a hearing on health care affordability with testimony from health insurance CEO’s.".www.instagram.com
Congresswoman Kat Cammack on Instagram: "I asked health insurance CEOs to raise their hands if they’re penalized when patients are harmed by delays or wrongful denials. Not. One. Hand. Patients pay the price. Executives protect the profits. That’s
119K likes, 2,230 comments - repkatcammack on January 22, 2026: "I asked health insurance CEOs to raise their hands if they’re penalized when patients are harmed by delays or wrongful denials. Not. One. Hand. Patients pay the price. Executives protect the profits. That’s the problem.".
Last edited:
You will never get state of the art healthcare in this country with a one payer universal system. In fact, capitated pricing would discourage the advancement of standard of care.
Trust me, like we are finding out in other areas of government there is a lot of fraud or grey area in Healthcare. I've had a Regional hospital rip me for prices on a specific product and then they turn around and ask me if we can charge over list price for the same product. How does that make sense? Well, they wanted dirt cheap for their Medicare patients and as high as possible for private insurance patients. You see Medicare didn't reimburse well for this product but they had a COST PLUS contract for private insurance. Had to take a shower after that interaction to wash all the disgust off me.
Probably related to their insurance reimbursement schedules vs cash which is simple revenue-cost to get to margin.
As a long time business owner, nothing has outpaced the cost of insurance. We pay for our employees and their families. I do this because I haven't wanted my employees having to be concerned over it. We do show them how it is a part of their total benefit package. But it's an incredible expense.
We would all probably stay in a little better health right? Individual consumer is one of many entities that have competing interests in our system. I'll take the supersize combo and chill on the couch all day. As cold as it may sound if you consume healthcare you do have somewhat of a responsibility. This excludes catastrophic and hereditary issues that even the most disciplined health conscious individual cannot avoid.
A well known liar once said, "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor".
I think that I read somewhere long ago that one major contributing factor was as an incentive to attract female workers in a country that had huge wartime manufacturing needs and a lot of the work place deployed.
Never agreed or understood the whole Dr kavorkian controversy as a kid but I get it now. I'm on the same page as you....just need to make sure I can reconcile with my faith.
It's amazing to see the growth of hospital administration in the last 20 years. We use to negotiate with someone in the basement of the hospital that was over supply chain. Now, it's service line directors, consultants and c-suite.
The terminators are proliferating
Attachments
-
0_LPfbB6kUyT6sVt5U (1).jpg
Same with Doctors offices. When i was growing up, there was one pediatrician in Greenwood. He took care of all the kids with a staff of 3-4 employees.
Thats because you have to have twice as much staff to deal with all the administrative and insurance BS you have to do now
I dont think there's a way out except a tiered single payer system. Basic health care for everyone, paid by taxes. Better care for those that pay for it themselves.