Socialized Health Care in the USA

[Jester]

I dunno, if I go to the dentist and tell them I'm out of insurance coverage for the year and will need to pay out of pocket, they'll right away, without asking whack anywhere from 20-50% off the price of whatever I'm having done. How that doesn't count as insurance fraud is beyond me, but it's pretty common.

Well, insurance is a business. They provide services, in this case distributing the risks of needing incredibly expensive medical treatment over a broad swath of people and a long time. In doing so, they add the overhead of running their business, plus the extra transaction costs, plus profit. They can't increase the last category more than the market will bear (hence, why this is market priced), but so long as all their competitors are labouring under the same inefficiencies, they can add a very large chunk onto the costs of medical care. 50% sounds like a lot, but I'd certainly believe 20% extra cost, maybe more.

There's no doubt in my mind that the way the healthcare system works in the US is pretty messy due to the hidden nature of the pricing structure from both employers and end consumers.

It certainly isn't efficient. If it was, you'd either have far cheaper care, given how mediocre the US' health stats are, or far better outcomes, given how ludicrously much you spend on health care.

-Jester