Steve StrezaIt really cannot be overstated enough: "For-profit health insurance" is fundamentally incompatible with keeping people healthy. UnitedHealthcare did not deny 1 out of every 3 claims because they thought they weren't medically valuable, they did it because they knew they could get away with it. The entire system cannot ever provide health as a meaningful outcome. It must be eliminated and replaced with taxation and a single-payer institution built on care, not resource hoarding.
mike805@stevestreza It could also be replaced by a free market in health care with published prices, the right to know what things will cost ahead of time (they already impose this on car mechanics!) and generous subsidies for the poor.
If you are going to subsidize something, do it right out in the open. Write a check. That way everyone can see the costs and nobody can hide any ripoffs.
Insurance should be for the unlikely but catastrophic cases, not for ordinary care.
bse