Can anyone explain the conservative meme about how healthcare is something that needs to be like, personalized and tailored on every level? Why do different states have different healthcare needs? It makes a little more sense when talking about individuals, but not much.
I consider myself to be a conservative in the tea party/Ted Cruz mold, and I think that the problem with health care is group insurance. Ever since employers started to roll out group insurance, and insurance in general, that is when costs began to explode.
I personally think that health insurance should only be for major health related events, such as car accidents that lead to broken bones, cancer, surgeries, and other big, high cost health related issues. Not annual checkup doctor visits, or prescriptions, or going to the doctor because you have a cold.
With insurance being used for every single health related issue, there is no price check to let market forces work. People just think "Who cares how much it costs, my insurance will take care of it". Because of this middle man, there is no way to keep prices in check. Because of this, health providers can raise their prices, which causes insurance providers to raise their premiums. There is nothing to control costs. You may be paying a $10-$20 co pay to see a doctor, but your employer/insurance is paying the rest of it and this drives up health costs and causes employers to lower wages or not hire as many people.
If people paid out of pocket for the non catastrophic health issues, it would drive down costs because the average consumer would actually know how much each kind of health procedure costs.
I read a story about some hospital in Oklahoma that is cash only, and how even major surgeries like hip or knee replacement only costs a couple thousand dollars. Wish I still had the link.
Long story short, I honestly think health costs have exploded because no one knows how much the procedures cost because "my insurance will take care of it". Because of this, health providers can charge artificially higher prices and this screws over people who have no insurance. Get rid of group insurance and only have insurance for catastrophic events, and prices will go down.
Insurance is meant to hedge against a risk, and how is health insurance health insurance when you know you will be using it for every single health related issue? That is not a hedge for a risk, that is just a pool of funds to use for your health visits. Health insurance these days is not insurance, its a common slush fund to pay for health issues.