I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of the opportunities "Obamacare" missed out on was capping the level of discount insurance companies can get rela

I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of the opportunities "Obamacare" missed out on was capping the level of discount insurance companies can get relative to the uninsured (both from hospitals but also from drug companies). Right now the typical discount falls between 50% and 90% depending on the treatment and agreements made. If "Obamacare" had capped insurance discounting to something like 35-40% (which is still perfectly reasonable) we would have seen uninsured patient's costs drop between 10% and 60%. As it stands Hospitals and drug companies know that insurance will negotiate a discount so they just increase the cost to compensate. Instead of something costing 3K with a 0% discount, it is 4.8K with a 60% "discount." If discounting were scrapped altogether it would be a huge "win" for almost everyone (e.g. reduced management overhead at hospitals, uninsured patients, et al). The only party who wins by the current discounting culture is the insurance companies as it acts as a giant "lock in." Even if you're wealthy and can afford your own treatment insurance still makes sense as you'll get a huge discount not otherwise available.