Market Economics and Health Care
From The New Yorker, a brief summary of the market economics of health care:
Think about your last visit to a doctor, for the flu, or a broken leg or cancer. You didn't head down to the health care marketplace to talk to half a dozen doctors and negotiate the best deal. It doesn't matter whether you pay for your health care with Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance or out of your own pocket; you almost certainly didn't make a decision based on price or quality, as you would when buying a car, or a refrigerator or some shoes.
I don't know nearly enough to offer an opinion as to the best way to finance health care for all Americans. But I do think that not pretending that the health care system is something it isn't would be a good place to start.
Think about your last visit to a doctor, for the flu, or a broken leg or cancer. You didn't head down to the health care marketplace to talk to half a dozen doctors and negotiate the best deal. It doesn't matter whether you pay for your health care with Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance or out of your own pocket; you almost certainly didn't make a decision based on price or quality, as you would when buying a car, or a refrigerator or some shoes.I don't know nearly enough to offer an opinion as to the best way to finance health care for all Americans. But I do think that not pretending that the health care system is something it isn't would be a good place to start.
posted by Tom Noyes at 10:41 PM
2 Comments:
The question I would ask in that situation is why not? Why can't I shop for health care like I do anything else?
I picked up on your blog as I am interested in what other consumers feel about this issue. I have worked in the health care field now on the strategy and business development side for about 15 years now. I recently went to join a company that is trying to be part of the shopping for health care solution.
Would love to know more about how you would like to shop for care!
However, I did exactly that type of comparison shopping when I got my insurance policy, my family doctor and my pediatrician. It is like shopping for any other professional service. You shop ahead of time and if disappointed, you switch to a different provider.
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