Some Observations on Health Insurance
People are reluctant to pay directly for their medical care, thinking that they should first obtain or are entitled to be given medical insurance. They thereby falsely believe that someone else pays, never realizing that they eventually pay for their care either through their premiums or through taxation. Further, they do not understand that when they request or demand unnecessary care their insurance premiums will necessarily be increased.
* It is immoral to invest in an enterprise that pays dividends from the sale of medical insurance policies. It means that one derives a profit at the expense of someone else’s misfortune or illness. We all, sooner or later, are stricken with a medical or surgical problem. We do not all suffer an accident, fire, earthquake or theft. I believe all medical insurance should not be for profit.
* It is offensive for a medical insurance company to donate money to sponsor shows on public television. That donation is paid for by the insured and is money that should be used for medical care or returned to the insured in lower premiums or even paid to the provider of medical care at a more reasonable and less discounted rate. Insurance companies now make handsome profits and pay their executives excessive salaries by discounting payments to the providers of medical care.
* It is unconscionable that insurance companies lobby the Congress to perpetuate the insurance companies’ greedy ways with money paid by their subscribers.
* Managed care is here, and it is for the good. It incorporates and encourages quality control and proper utilization. Both disciplines will ensure better medical care, avoid waste and therefore bring about monetary savings. However, significant savings will come only if the numerous intermediaries that now exist between the payer and the provider of medical care are decreased.
In prescribing for a patient, a doctor is expected to know which one of several identical or almost identical drugs must be selected, depending on the insurance coverage of the patient. Similarly, the choice of ancillary services is often made illogically by the insurance companies--making it difficult for the physician to obtain the appropriate referral. These arrangements by the insurance companies add to the frustration of the physician and add to further wasted time and money. A simple solution is to have a single or central insurer, one that will dispense the money obtained through paid premiums or by taxation directly to the physician or other providers of medical care.
