3.2: Free Market & Charity

Replace Big Government health care and government-mandated insurance with free market and charitable health care.

Other Information:

... Whenever an insurance company pays for health services, it drives up everyone's cost — yours included — and renders health care services clumsy, inefficient, and even dangerous. Neither patients nor providers have incentive to keep costs down. This encourages doctors to prescribe procedures you don't need — raising costs for insurance companies. They respond in turn by raising the price of your premiums, raising the amount you must pay for co-pays and deductibles, and reducing the services they cover. In addition, excess treatment can put your health at risk. Patients who undergo unnecessary tests, operations, and drug regimens sometimes end up with worse medical problems than they started with. At the same time, insurance rules forbid practitioners from giving you services you actually need. Again, your health suffers. When you pay directly for services, you or someone you trust is in the driver's seat. You and your health care providers have direct incentive to give you high quality care at a reasonable price. Medical insurance co-pays, deductibles, and coverage denials make medical bills confusing and hard to read. Billing errors are common — and difficult to correct. You're forced to either pay what your bill instructs you to pay or to try to avoid overpayment by submerging yourself in paperwork that can be as complicated and infuriating as filing taxes. The best way to minimize billing hassles is to forgo medical insurance and pay your providers directly for medical services...

Stakeholder(s):

• Carla Howell: Author

Indicator(s):

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