Quit Wasting My Healthcare » Health Insurance Premiums

Healthcare Reform & Consumerism

ScottSchoenvogel — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:19:36 +0000

I continue to read countless articles about the various healthcare reform bills that really do not have much to say other than everyone disagrees on how to move forward and whatever happens should cost more than financial bailout. Well, I guess there are tidbits about a public insurance option, increased taxes for the wealthy, and some protection for those with pre-existing conditions.

Does all of this healthcare reform talk have any implications for consumers? The answer is not yet but it might over the long run. For the interim, I suspect it will be business as usual because of the huge financial forces keeping the current system in place – the great “hidden” private insurance tax subsidizing the true cost of government programs. Medicare and Medicaid pay 25% less than the cost of care and private insurance pays 27% more than the cost of care. The net 2% is profit for large healthcare system providers which supports growth and ongoing innovation. This dynamic is known to everyone in government healthcare and private healthcare. At the end of day, the reality of this huge cross-subsidy and lack of meaningful plans to rebalance the situation will result in a stalemate with any new healthcare legislation that might jeopardize the viability of this industry dynamic – the only reason seniors and those with financial hardship can enjoy the truly comprehensive benefits of government healthcare.

It doesn’t mean that this dynamic is appropriate and should continue. That is where you as a healthcare consumer can continue to help. By avoiding the 27% overpayment for healthcare, a consumer puts pressure on the healthcare system one decision at a time to either become more efficient or find new ways to balance and allocate the cost of care. This is the kind of change I can believe in…

The Nature of Health Insurance

ScottSchoenvogel — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:43:59 +0000

Drew Altman from the Kaiser Foundation (http://www.kff.org/pullingittogether/093008_altman.cfm) does a nice job of tactfully raising the question whether it is better for the nation if employers and individuals shift to more catastrophic forms of health insurance (think high deductible) or whether the view that comprehensive coverage is the key to access and societal good health (think expensive). While Compass is on the side of the fence that believes the true nature of health insurance should be more related to catastrophic events, I would offer the point that catastrophic health insurance is much more feasible from an access and society standpoint when you have health professionals helping individuals and employees gain access, find lower cost services, and provide understanding. It is the underlying philosophy behind the Compass consumer support and cost control solutions.

Politics of Healthcare Taxation

ScottSchoenvogel — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:44:15 +0000

At my last employer, an uninsured patient paid the hospital somewhere between 3 and 8 cents on every dollar of revenue. It cost the hospital 40 cents on a dollar of revenue to treat that patient. Although small, the hospital still turned a profit last year. How? The managed care rates paid by employers essentially include a “hidden tax” to cover these costs and pay hospitals significantly more than the cost of care. This dynamic has effectively acheived a universal care model in the US.

Since the healthcare system in the US is currently paying for emergent care for everyone, no matter what the ability to pay, and employers are already being “taxed” to cover this cost, why would anyone want to take away the healthcare tax deduction status for employers. If anything, this status should be extended to individuals to level the playing field and encourage more investment by individuals in their own health. If you don’t allow this structure to exist, the government is simply going to take the additional tax revenue it collects and plug it back into the healthcare system to meets its goal of universal access to care and offset the decreasing level of healthcare coverage offer by employer.

It is time to have individuals take responsibility for their healthcare, teach them how to be better healthcare consumers, and bring some value based decision-making back to the healthcare process. This is the one approach that will spur efficiency as providers will be forced to focus on the type and level of care that provides the most value to consumers in order to gain their business.