"As doctors, we find that our patients suffer because of increasing deductibles, co-payments, and restrictions on patient care," said Dr. Ronald Ackermann, who worked on the study with Carroll. "More and more, physicians are turning to national health insurance as a solution to this problem."This rings true to me, because the procedure-oriented surgical "elite" has been making out way better than other doctors.
. . . .
"Across the board, more physicians feel that our fragmented and for-profit insurance system is obstructing good patient care, and a majority now support national insurance as the remedy," Ackermann said in a statement.
The Indiana survey found that 83 percent of psychiatrists, 69 percent of emergency medicine specialists, 65 percent of pediatricians, 64 percent of internists, 60 percent of family physicians and 55 percent of general surgeons favor a national health insurance plan.
Our system is the historical result of the World War II wage freeze, under which employers were still free to compete with health benefits. Insurance companies were more than happy to receive premiums and pocket eventually huge profits under this regime. Meanwhile, Congress sucked up to the new status quo by making health insurance premiums deductible for employers but not counting those premiums as income to employees.
The market for health care is extremely distorted by the super-strong desire of almost all people not to die or stay sick. Free marketeers need to take a look at true market failure in this sector and focus instead on efficiencies available under the inevitable entitlement system we will have sooner or later.
UPDATE: "Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63%) favor a government guarantee of universal health insurance, even if it means raising taxes; 34% are opposed." See the poll breakdowns by party, religion, and political philosophy on the Pew Research Center website.
Consensus emerging on universal healthcare.
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2 comments:
"Market for health care. . . distorted by the super-strong desire . . .not to die or stay sick?" That's not distortion -
that's just enlightened self-interest! Are people supposed to die or remain sick just to protect the health-care market?
[I am adding this for a reader.]
That was a good post you wrote on health insurance. I liked it a lot. One suggestion for any further related posts: the "pay-for-performance" feature which has surfaced, mostly in managed care contracts, but there is some concern about it if single payer ever comes to fruition. Essentially, it's a productivity feature (NOT a bonus, but a determination of base salary) with very fuzzy parameters. Complicated, non-compliant, demanding, etc. patients obviously slow one's productivity, but they still need to be seen, & arguably need more time & attn. than "good" pts. Additionally, it weights the scale in favor of healthy patients coming for routine check-ups, & against patients with complicated problems. Also, what happens to oncologists, most of whose pts. die? Do they wind up penalized because their patients can't & don't get better? How about psychiatrists treating schizophrenics? And what about me? A sizable chunk of my pts. are referred to me because they're too complicated, non-compliant, or just plain cantankerous to do what they're supposed to do. Does this mean I should screen them before seeing them to make sure they're nice, well-mannered, & obedient? (Well, maybe I should. . .Scratch that question.) If this were happening in a factory, it would be called a speed-up, & the union (assuming there still *are* unions) would be all over management like a bad rash.
Feel free to add this as a comment to the post, if you want to.
[Signed]
"Hard-working white American woman who supports Obama & wouldn't vote for Hillary even if hell froze over."
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