3 ms·

Because the European market based insurance models like the ones in the Netherlands and Germany are completely redundant bureaucracy without any actual market m

Because the European market based insurance models like the ones in the Netherlands and Germany are completely redundant bureaucracy without any actual market mechanism, and Americans are typically above that kind of nonsense. Americans want choice, but that necessitates having choice.

InsideOutSanta 2y ago
I can't tell if you're serious or sarcastic, but you can get private health insurance in all European countries, and an important thing the "redundant bureaucracy" does is negotiate and/or control pricing, which keeps the overal healthcare cost down. One of the issues with healthcare in the US is that every actor other than the patient benefits from higher cost and worse service. It increases revenue and decreases cost for healthcare providers, for pharma, and, importantly, also for insurance companies. There is no competition to improve service and decrease costs.
- geremiiah 2y ago
  I don't know what you are talking about, but I have lived in both the Netherlands and Germany and in both instances, you have a "choice" of insurance providers, but the list of services and the pricing is mandated by law. There is virtually no difference between being with one insurer compared to the other, except for whom will process your application and handle the money. In that respect it's just a bunch of useless added bureaucracy compared to an NHS-style system with just one country-wide insurer.
  - InsideOutSanta 2y ago
    Like I said, you can get private health insurance in both the Netherlands and Germany. Basic service is mandated by law, and will be the same across all providers, but you can get any additional insurance you want. I do agree that it makes more sense to have basic healthcare covered by a single national government program, rather than mandating basic coverage and allowing private insurance companies to "compete" by offering the same mandatory coverage as each other. If that's specifically what you're referring to by "useless added bureaucracy", then I agree.

InsideOutSanta 2y ago

I can't tell if you're serious or sarcastic, but you can get private health insurance in all European countries, and an important thing the "redundant bureaucracy" does is negotiate and/or control pricing, which keeps the overal healthcare cost down. One of the issues with healthcare in the US is that every actor other than the patient benefits from higher cost and worse service. It increases revenue and decreases cost for healthcare providers, for pharma, and, importantly, also for insurance companies. There is no competition to improve service and decrease costs.

geremiiah 2y ago
I don't know what you are talking about, but I have lived in both the Netherlands and Germany and in both instances, you have a "choice" of insurance providers, but the list of services and the pricing is mandated by law. There is virtually no difference between being with one insurer compared to the other, except for whom will process your application and handle the money. In that respect it's just a bunch of useless added bureaucracy compared to an NHS-style system with just one country-wide insurer.
- InsideOutSanta 2y ago
  Like I said, you can get private health insurance in both the Netherlands and Germany. Basic service is mandated by law, and will be the same across all providers, but you can get any additional insurance you want. I do agree that it makes more sense to have basic healthcare covered by a single national government program, rather than mandating basic coverage and allowing private insurance companies to "compete" by offering the same mandatory coverage as each other. If that's specifically what you're referring to by "useless added bureaucracy", then I agree.