Healthcare in America: Affordability, pt. 2

Good day, family and friends!

Last time, we established that most medical professionals are working hard to earn a living in what they believe to be their true vocation. Quite frankly, anyone who chooses to pursue a medical career in our overly-litigious society deserves a warm round of applause and a hearty pat on the back.

Now, to continue with the analysis...

The second component we have to look at when asking why healthcare costs what it costs is insurance. Thanks to a concerted effort by certain politicians, a growing entitlement mentality spreading through our society, and a very few bad apples in the insurance industry, healthcare insurers have been painted as demons in the healthcare debate. The biggest reason for this is that most modern Americans have a skewed vision of exactly what insurance is.

As a result of the creeping efforts of the Progressive movement over the last 75 to 80 years, most Americans now view their insurance premiums as payments for entitlements. They believe that, as long a their monthly payment is made, they are entitled to access to any healthcare they desire, no matter the cost or availability, as long as they also pay their token co-payment and a small deductible. This warped view of insurance is why many people are unhappy with their healthcare coverage.

The truth of the matter is that insurance is nothing more than a legal form of gambling. When your premium is paid, whether by your employer or out of your own pocket, a wager is placed with the insurance company (the House) that you are going to need medical assistance and that they, within the 'rules' of the wager, will pay for all or part of it. When they accept your wager (premium), the House (insurance company) is betting that you will remain healthy and hale and won't need said medical services. Unfortunately, most bettors (you the customer) let themselves be distracted by the bright shiny lights that is the marketing campaign for the insurance policy and fail to actually read and understand the rules of the wager (i.e. the fine print). Additionally, most bettors also forget the first rule of gambling: "The odds are always in favor of the House."

To be fair, most of that fine print is as complex and convoluted as the worst example of an ambulance-chasing shyster could make it, so it does take a considerable investment in time for the average American to read through and understand what they are getting. Unfortunately, all that fine print evolved over time in response to economic pressures placed on the insurance companies by gradual changes in litigation. This is where some of those 'bad apples' come in; unscrupulous men who would describe a policy to a potential customer as being one thing when it was something completely different just so they could make a sale. Thus, the actions of a few resulted in the implementation of policies and procedures within the insurance industry that were designed to minimize the damage caused by future bad apples and protect the interests of their shareholders. In other words, the only people who won at that table were the lawyers.

Next time, we continue to look at the costs involved with healthcare insurance.

Until then, best regards...



© James P. Rice 2009