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Demonstrating that consumers have trouble with insurance decisions implies nothing about their ability to make care decisions.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
Most healthcare consumers don't shop around by cost for their healthcare, either because they can't (emergency services) or because its too damn hard (example below). I encourage you to call your three closest hospitals, pick three surgical procedures, and ask them what the cash rate is from their chargemaster. You may get an answer from one hospital, possibly.
- nostromo 11y ago
  Most healthcare consumers don't shop around by cost for their healthcare because they don't pay the bills.
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    True! But the healthcare market is grossly inefficient. Prices are hidden from users. Drug makers can pitch straight to consumers, who aren't medical professionals. I'd agree that consumers would shop around given the proper incentives, and as long as those incentives didn't diminish the healthcare they receive (or their health in general). Single payer seems to be the better option. It streamlines collecting revenue for the program, and the program is large enough that it can bargain or set pricing with healthcare providers.
    - bmelton 11y ago
      You could easily argue that "Most healthcare consumers don't shop around by cost for their healthcare because they don't pay the bills" is a good argument against single payer. Honestly, I think if we treated medical insurance more like we treated car insurance, home insurance, et al, then the cost of medical goods would go down.
- vonmoltke 11y ago
  You seem fixated on price. "Active consumer" (the words in the post you were replying to) means more to me than finding the best deal. It means allowing the consumer to ultimately decide what is best for them, where price is one of several factors. As far as the specific price question, with respect to drugs I can easily get that information from my pharmacist, whether it is the cost difference between a name brand and generic or just the prospective cost of a medication.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

Most healthcare consumers don't shop around by cost for their healthcare, either because they can't (emergency services) or because its too damn hard (example below). I encourage you to call your three closest hospitals, pick three surgical procedures, and ask them what the cash rate is from their chargemaster. You may get an answer from one hospital, possibly.

nostromo 11y ago
Most healthcare consumers don't shop around by cost for their healthcare because they don't pay the bills.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  True! But the healthcare market is grossly inefficient. Prices are hidden from users. Drug makers can pitch straight to consumers, who aren't medical professionals. I'd agree that consumers would shop around given the proper incentives, and as long as those incentives didn't diminish the healthcare they receive (or their health in general). Single payer seems to be the better option. It streamlines collecting revenue for the program, and the program is large enough that it can bargain or set pricing with healthcare providers.
  - bmelton 11y ago
    You could easily argue that "Most healthcare consumers don't shop around by cost for their healthcare because they don't pay the bills" is a good argument against single payer. Honestly, I think if we treated medical insurance more like we treated car insurance, home insurance, et al, then the cost of medical goods would go down.
vonmoltke 11y ago
You seem fixated on price. "Active consumer" (the words in the post you were replying to) means more to me than finding the best deal. It means allowing the consumer to ultimately decide what is best for them, where price is one of several factors. As far as the specific price question, with respect to drugs I can easily get that information from my pharmacist, whether it is the cost difference between a name brand and generic or just the prospective cost of a medication.