Most workers don't see the full costs of their health care.
Ie, price illusion.
Price illusion occurs when the perceived price of something does not reflect the true cost of that good or service, and creates instead the illusion of low or even zero cost.
I can't tall you how many times I've heard "...it only costs $15 co-pay to go to the doctor, its cheap!"
Just like with price controls, there's no such thing as a free lunch.
I support a "safety net" of some kind for those in need.
For the rest of us, there has to be some incentive to economize. In Canada its called a long freaking line; in a free market it is called "you get what you pay for".
Clearly in the USA, we have neither.
Disclaimer: I have always had insurance premiums taken out of my paycheck, similar to SS and income tax. Thus, I have a perhaps tainted view of how people typically pay for insurance. I am sure there are many (retirees perhaps?) who have a better feel for what they are paying.
I have a great feel for what healthcare costs. I've had absolutely terrible student insurance on a couple of occasions, the last when I had two kids. It's no picnic. You fight with company employees a lot. You pay more. There is no sense of customer service, unless you get your institution involved, which I ultimately did.
I honestly think the invention of health insurance several decades back was a real mistake. It's no accident that the house call died out right about the same time insurance took hold.
5 comments:
Most workers don't see the full costs of their health care.
Ie, price illusion.
Price illusion occurs when the perceived price of something does not reflect the true cost of that good or service, and creates instead the illusion of low or even zero cost.
I can't tall you how many times I've heard "...it only costs $15 co-pay to go to the doctor, its cheap!"
Just like with price controls, there's no such thing as a free lunch.
I see we have some certain someones who'll be cheering the "HSA" portion of the State of the Union...
Not to be misunderstood ...
I support a "safety net" of some kind for those in need.
For the rest of us, there has to be some incentive to economize. In Canada its called a long freaking line; in a free market it is called "you get what you pay for".
Clearly in the USA, we have neither.
Disclaimer: I have always had insurance premiums taken out of my paycheck, similar to SS and income tax. Thus, I have a perhaps tainted view of how people typically pay for insurance. I am sure there are many (retirees perhaps?) who have a better feel for what they are paying.
I have a great feel for what healthcare costs. I've had absolutely terrible student insurance on a couple of occasions, the last when I had two kids. It's no picnic. You fight with company employees a lot. You pay more. There is no sense of customer service, unless you get your institution involved, which I ultimately did.
I honestly think the invention of health insurance several decades back was a real mistake. It's no accident that the house call died out right about the same time insurance took hold.
Amount of money the US would save annually on paperwork if it switched to a single-payer health care system: $161 billion.
Percentage change since 2000 in average amount U.S. workers spend on out-of-pocket medical expenses: +93.
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