You're missing the other major function: ensuring wealth buys quality of care. That's the main point, making sure poor people die and rich people survive. That middle-men can profit off it is just a bonus to that wealth = worth ideology.
I had it through work & contributed to 'up' the cover. I had a detached retina & they told me that if I arrived at their private facility with my detached retina that they would cart me straight to NHS A&E & leave me to be sorted by them. I cancelled the policy...pure horse shit.
That's even more true in countries like my own that have fully functioning public health systems. Rich people can opt out, and when they get sick or go bankrupt they come crawling back. For profit insurers are only there for you during sunny Summer days. When Winter is coming, they kick you out.
There’s the added value of disempowerment at work. Lots of people become dependent on work based insurance. Try taking on an abusive boss when your kids healthcare depends on the company.
I think that actually health care providers work for the insurance companies, so that makes the providers the middleman between the insurance companies and the patients.
Not true in Australia, elective surgery is certainly done much quicker if you have private health insurance
Only a 3 week wait for hip replacement for me
Insurance companies have driven improved safety only because of their bottom lines.
The raison d’être of a private health insurer is profit, not patient care.
The collective social responsibility of the NHS is funded by ‘national insurance’ & had a profound impact (a public system not a company obvs). It’s struggling & private healthcare is circling. You really made me think about whether collision of profit and safety goals can ever be a good thing
I think it can be a good thing, up to a point. However, when health issues are looked at through the lens of cost-control, it can lead to some very unfortunate outcomes.
If a portion of our taxes went into a national healthcare fund instead of insurance premiums, everyone would be able to get the care they need with no deductibles, preauthorizations, claims or paperwork. Insurance companies do nothing but gum up the system and skim profit for themselves.
There's a simple, albeit unconventional solution to that.
What if society selected a trusted, competent collective of varied experts to design and manage a healthcare system whose goals were maximising efficiency, quality, coverage, and access while eliminating the requirement for profit?
Health insurance is so painfully, obviously unnecessary, immoral, and evil.
Automobile insurance serves a purpose. There are motivations and benefits to having it. Two drivers involved in an accident would not cooperate without it. It helps society function.
Health insurance is a racket, but it is not without value. Pooling risk has value for the community. However, in Australia we have non-profit health funds, which keep the for-profits under control. We also have universal (government) healthcare as a safety net. Not perfect, but better than most.
Mandatory voting, mostly preferential (1, 2, 3…) voting, and (get this) an independent Election Commission that sets electoral boundaries and run the elections for both state and federal. Still some nut-jobs in the senate, but most house of rep politicians are OK.
One downside. Our Senate voting papers are typically about a metre wide 🤣. We can put a “1” in one box “above the line”, in which case your preferences are allocated according to the party you selected, or number any number of candidates yourself in the order you prefer - maybe up to 90.
In my state, an initiative to start using a ranked choice (preferential) system failed last month by a fairly strong margin. Some city councils and municipal govs use it, in liberal places.
I LOVE the independent national/federal Election Commission. We need that!
We have also recently introduced a National Disability Insurance Scheme. Not really insurance, but paid for as an additional mandatory tax on all income, so another safety net.
I forgot to explain. We have Medicare, available for all Australians and permanent residents of Australia. This is the safety net, paid for by a 1.5% levy on all income. Then, people can optionally pay for private medical insurance. I have “hospital only” - costs A$559 per month for a couple.
I just cancelled part D coverage because it's practically useless and they said any lapse in coverage results in a penalty for the rest of your natural life. What other industry can screw up your life like that long after you've moved on. It sounds like a republican came up with that one.
I disenrolled effective 12/31/24. I had a Walgreens part D and Walgreens never had my prescriptions in stock and when they did they'd only have a partial or they'd say come back next week or force me to take some other med. I think they were mainly selling drugs they had ownership of enriching them.
For an object lesson, I give you the US. Americans have been propagandized into believing that paying high health insurance premiums for coverage that can be (and often is) denied while still paying out-of-pocket to bankruptcy, is better than paying a little more in taxes but no insurance premiums.
Not strictly true. That only works if you have a single healthcare provider. As soon as you have two or more you need a way to distribute the risk in a fair way.
That's kinda the point. It's like how mercenaries have no reason to exist in a country with a functioning military. Anything you could possibly hire them to do is either illegal or EXTREMELY questionable.
"But then we need to pay for a military" isn't an argument in favor of mercenaries.
Typical premium is CHF 396.12 (PPP-adjusted US$ 646) for an adult (age 26+). You have to pay a deductible of CHF 300 (PPP-adjusted US$ 489) to a maximum of CHF 2,500 (PPP-adjusted $4,076). You also pay a daily rate for hospital stays. It's really, really expensive.
I remember that my deductable was CHF1000, but you can choose a higher one to reduce the monthly cost.
The hotel cost is only if you want a private room. CHF 10.000 is about the maximum you pay in a year before the limits apply. The pay in ALDI is ~CHF60.000 per annum for comparison.
The important point is that they have to insure you and the basic cost is set by the government. Also the cost doesn't rise as you get older and preexisting conditions are covered.
Then it can cover whatever gaps public insurance won't, doesn't, or shouldn't. Boob jobs or facelifts or hair plugs or whatever. Same way private investigators don't have much of an overlap with actual law enforcement.
Comments
Only a 3 week wait for hip replacement for me
The raison d’être of a private health insurer is profit, not patient care.
What if society selected a trusted, competent collective of varied experts to design and manage a healthcare system whose goals were maximising efficiency, quality, coverage, and access while eliminating the requirement for profit?
Wait...🤯
Automobile insurance serves a purpose. There are motivations and benefits to having it. Two drivers involved in an accident would not cooperate without it. It helps society function.
Health insurance is a racket.
I love Australia’s law that mandates voting! Brilliant.
I LOVE the independent national/federal Election Commission. We need that!
"But then we need to pay for a military" isn't an argument in favor of mercenaries.
The hotel cost is only if you want a private room. CHF 10.000 is about the maximum you pay in a year before the limits apply. The pay in ALDI is ~CHF60.000 per annum for comparison.