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It's very interesting that insurance companies take so much of the blame for healthcare costs in the US, given that they are essentially the only player in the

It's very interesting that insurance companies take so much of the blame for healthcare costs in the US, given that they are essentially the only player in the entire system, (alongside the patient), that is against price increases and overbilling by providers. I recently had an endoscopy done. Simple 15 minute operation where they look at your insides with a camera. They put you under for it. I got the itemized bill in the mail and the anesthesiologist alone charged $738 for the 15 minutes. Of course they probably also did some work pre/post op, but the fact that there were 4 people in the room and one charged $738 for 15 minutes makes it very hard to imagine healthcare costs going down without pinching providers. AKA doctors. My insurer isn't even for-profit.

mancerayder 2y ago
It's a great point. But then the other side of the equation is, when the providers charge too much and the insurance won't approve, or later (months later) decided they weren't paying and now there's a bill, then guess who gets the surprise in the mail. It's the customer, the patient, who has to mediate between these kafkaesque entities. If insurance fought behind the scenes with each provider instead of blaming the patient, maybe they wouldn't be viewed as the bad guys so much. The health care system - insurance and provider - needs a centralized perspective rather than attacking this or that piece of it. That's also how reform should happen - no one wants to hear it, but it has to be planned centrally or at least a central authority should expand the legal guard rails. It already exists with Medicare, why not expand on that idea and cover more ages?