Tweaking Insurance Winners and Losers Won't Cut It

FUNDAMENTAL REFORMS IN HEALTHCARE MARKETS IS NECESSARY


You can tweak insurance laws to reward one constituency versus another however you wish, but none of this will have a significant impact on the overall costs of healthcare. The approach of price control will only cause a lessening of supply.

What needs to happen broadly in order to reduce costs is to increase the supply of medical providers. And in healthcare there are many specialties in which to consider. But with regard to basic family practices of medicine, there needs to be VAST reforms in the market.

First, the monopoly power of the AMA needs to be revoked and colleges should be free to create doctor programs and graduate students who can sit for the AMA license (or just eliminate the license - I know, I know, too extreme, sigh.)

Second, nurse practitioners, PA's, and pharmacists should all be allowed to set up shop without regard to doctors. That doesn't preclude that you couldn't go to the doctor if you wish, but this idea that you need to go once a year to get allergy prescriptions is absurd (along with other kinds of medicine.)

Third, there should be truth in pricing for all medical procedures. Prices (both total and the portion for the insured) should be known before procedures are delivered (except emergencies obviously.)

Fourth, there needs to be full disclosure to all patients about the odds of success of a surgery (both short and long term) based on large numbers of patients who received the same procedures with the caveat that there are differences for each patient.

Agree? Disagree?

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