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The programs only exist because health insurance became unaffordable for seniors. Healthcare is expensive for the old! I’m not arguing against the idea that the

The programs only exist because health insurance became unaffordable for seniors. Healthcare is expensive for the old! I’m not arguing against the idea that the program has fraud issues (Rick Scott made a fortune off of it), but its not going to be cheaper or better for the elderly if we let private companies exploit them individually instead of forcing them to defraud the government.

OrvalWintermute 4y ago
Medical insurance in general is a scam. Profitability of the insurer is tied specifically to claim denial and reducing expenses. Medical insurance transfers onto Doctor's Offices and Hospitals all the expenses of billing & coding which then also requires the doctor / medical provider spend 20-40% of their time doing billing & coding, and dedicated personnel to interface with the insurance companies and be involved in tracking down outstanding bills, getting pre-authed, negotiating settlements with insurance, getting "in network" etc. The whole insurance thing is a racket that has massively enlarged the costs of doing medicine.
- nobodyandproud 4y ago
  You know what gets rid of paperwork? Nationalized health services. Look at South Korea for a palatable (to conservatives) example.
  - junofan 4y ago
    US healthcare spend is 2.5x South Korea’s GDP. It’s an entirely different beast to administer. There’s no magic wand. The reality is that healthcare is hyperinflationary everywhere, and the US is farther along the curve than any other country.
    - nobodyandproud 4y ago
      The US private healthcare system will be inefficient because it tries to apply market solutions across the board for a problem that isn’t well served by the market. Yet it’s extraordinarily inefficient because the private sector fights against any level of price-of-service transparency, which means even market forces cannot and do not apply. This problem has been well-studied and the solutions (more than one) are also well-known. The magic wand here is the blinders that have been pulled by politicizing healthcare.
  - refurb 4y ago
    There is still paperwork for nationalized systems.
- smaudet 4y ago
  The whole private insurance is a racket, because private companies don't have many incentives to offer reasonable insurance. Public insurance, or community driven, is a different matter. Sure, someone can have a non profit racket, but if the insurance pool is communal with relatively low overhead, it can function much better. Universal care has different issues, but at least it is closer to communal in this sense, so better in that sense at least.
  - renewiltord 4y ago
    Public insurance is a sure-fire way to grow how much money goes to private healthcare providers. Just like this latest amyloid plaque crap, the whole thing will be aimed at ensuring that the public budget can be directed into something that is politically unassailable: spending as much money on old people as possible. Remember: you should never trade grandma for a dollar.

OrvalWintermute 4y ago

Medical insurance in general is a scam. Profitability of the insurer is tied specifically to claim denial and reducing expenses. Medical insurance transfers onto Doctor's Offices and Hospitals all the expenses of billing & coding which then also requires the doctor / medical provider spend 20-40% of their time doing billing & coding, and dedicated personnel to interface with the insurance companies and be involved in tracking down outstanding bills, getting pre-authed, negotiating settlements with insurance, getting "in network" etc. The whole insurance thing is a racket that has massively enlarged the costs of doing medicine.

nobodyandproud 4y ago
You know what gets rid of paperwork? Nationalized health services. Look at South Korea for a palatable (to conservatives) example.
- junofan 4y ago
  US healthcare spend is 2.5x South Korea’s GDP. It’s an entirely different beast to administer. There’s no magic wand. The reality is that healthcare is hyperinflationary everywhere, and the US is farther along the curve than any other country.
  - nobodyandproud 4y ago
    The US private healthcare system will be inefficient because it tries to apply market solutions across the board for a problem that isn’t well served by the market. Yet it’s extraordinarily inefficient because the private sector fights against any level of price-of-service transparency, which means even market forces cannot and do not apply. This problem has been well-studied and the solutions (more than one) are also well-known. The magic wand here is the blinders that have been pulled by politicizing healthcare.
- refurb 4y ago
  There is still paperwork for nationalized systems.
smaudet 4y ago
The whole private insurance is a racket, because private companies don't have many incentives to offer reasonable insurance. Public insurance, or community driven, is a different matter. Sure, someone can have a non profit racket, but if the insurance pool is communal with relatively low overhead, it can function much better. Universal care has different issues, but at least it is closer to communal in this sense, so better in that sense at least.
- renewiltord 4y ago
  Public insurance is a sure-fire way to grow how much money goes to private healthcare providers. Just like this latest amyloid plaque crap, the whole thing will be aimed at ensuring that the public budget can be directed into something that is politically unassailable: spending as much money on old people as possible. Remember: you should never trade grandma for a dollar.