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I wouldn't expect competition among insurance companies to lower prices by very much. Insurance companies are already constrained by law as to how much profit

I wouldn't expect competition among insurance companies to lower prices by very much. Insurance companies are already constrained by law as to how much profit they can make and there is only so much overhead you can remove. In terms of competition, the real problem is the artificially low numbers of health care workers and facilities. The Drs are limited by the low number of medical schools, etc and the number of facilities are limited by requiring Certificates of Need, etc. First remove these barriers to entry and require transparent pricing. Then... maybe competition would result in lower prices.

sundaeofshock 8y ago
You could remove profit entirely from the mix. That would reduce costs pretty significantly.
- onething 8y ago
  It isn't that simple. >...Seven of the top 10 most profitable hospitals in the United States are nonprofit facilities that each netted more than $150 million from caring for patients in 2013, >...The study’s main purpose was to determine the characteristics of the nation’s most profitable hospitals. They found that facilities that were part of a system were more profitable because they were able to dominate their local market, which gives them greater clout in negotiating higher prices from private insurers. It also means consumers end up paying more if their health-care provider is out of network, Anderson said. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/02/these-hospitals-make-the-most-money-off-patients-and-theyre-mostly-nonprofits/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.360a403876d4 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/0... Also: >...Nonprofit hospitals have higher profit margins than most for-profit hospitals after accounting for their tax obligations. http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2017/04/25/the-fairy-tale-of-a-non-profit-hospital/ http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2017/04/25/the-fairy-tale-...

sundaeofshock 8y ago

You could remove profit entirely from the mix. That would reduce costs pretty significantly.

onething 8y ago
It isn't that simple. >...Seven of the top 10 most profitable hospitals in the United States are nonprofit facilities that each netted more than $150 million from caring for patients in 2013, >...The study’s main purpose was to determine the characteristics of the nation’s most profitable hospitals. They found that facilities that were part of a system were more profitable because they were able to dominate their local market, which gives them greater clout in negotiating higher prices from private insurers. It also means consumers end up paying more if their health-care provider is out of network, Anderson said. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/02/these-hospitals-make-the-most-money-off-patients-and-theyre-mostly-nonprofits/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.360a403876d4 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/0... Also: >...Nonprofit hospitals have higher profit margins than most for-profit hospitals after accounting for their tax obligations. http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2017/04/25/the-fairy-tale-of-a-non-profit-hospital/ http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2017/04/25/the-fairy-tale-...