Oh, the games we play when it comes to health care affordability. The winners keep winning, and the losers keep losing because the winners set the rules of the game. Winners (insurers, hospitals, doctors, pharma) win by sharing some information about how to play the game while keeping the most important information hidden. But don’t blame the winners for their success; it wouldn’t be possible without the consent of the losers (individuals, small and large employers, and to a lesser extent, government).

For decades, the losers placed their trust, and dollars, in the hands of the winners, and went about their business. Health care costs were a once-per-year conversation and the goal was to get through it. Meanwhile, for the winners, health care was their business, and they spent every day trying to grow it. Now, we ask, has this unequal relationship reached its tipping point or are we all still all-in?

People like me have been saying for years that health care prices are unsustainable and insurers, hospitals, doctors, and Big Pharma should expect a backlash any day now. Wrong. Any day now has turned into ten years and insurers and hospitals are reporting record profits.

It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To The Health Care Status Quo

Our relationship with the health care status quo has all the characteristics of an emotionally abusive relationship. The relationship started out well enough. About 100 years ago, Baylor University Medical Center in Texas offered a local teachers’ union a deal for hospital services. “For $6 per year, teachers who subscribed were entitled to a 21-day stay in the hospital, all costs included. But there was a deductible. The “insurance” took effect after a week and covered the full costs of hospitalization.” Soon, millions entered into insurance relationships, as the Blue Cross Plans expanded to other states. Continue Reading...

Tags: health care , health care costs, health care choice