The original idea with insurance providers was that they were more educated than their customers, and since they were paying, they would be incentivized and bet

The original idea with insurance providers was that they were more educated than their customers, and since they were paying, they would be incentivized and better capable of negotiating with medical providers. Of course, this has proven not to be the case. Part of the reason is that insurance providers are legally prohibited from making profits beyond a certain proportion to what they actually pay for medical services. So now, they are actually incentivized for _higher_ medical costs.