The state of insurance undercuts the quality of the services, actually. It raises costs, changes treatment decisions, and has generally warped our system toward

The state of insurance undercuts the quality of the services, actually. It raises costs, changes treatment decisions, and has generally warped our system towards one focused on lucrative, worse-outcome behavior on the part of doctors and hospitals. Much of this related to the putting off of preventative or early treatment due to OOP costs; people gamble that their conditions won't worsen so that they won't be forced to go into debt for treatment (if they can even access credit). Many lose that bet and end up having to pay orders of magnitude more for late treatment. Speaking personally, I had surgery for a long-standing condition, which the surgery failed to correct. Under a different system, my issue might not have become chronic, I might have been able to make a better decision regarding the surgeon and surgery (e.g., getting a second opinion, follow-up imaging, etc.), and I would not have missed a follow-up appointment after losing my insurance. Because I'm an American, living under this system, the circumstances of my treatment and subsequent outcomes were drastically shifted towards unsatisfactory.