Unfortunately, you’ll quickly find that the structure of the system will crush ‘generous’ insurance companies in short order.
it’s all good as long as it’s not publicly traded
Angels who do good deeds lose to devils who don’t.
That why the psychopaths are winning it for shareholders
Maybe start with clearly defined maximum pricing, publicly visible numbers, and strict punishment for denying doctor recommended claims. Also no “out of network”. If your hospital accepts insurance, they are in network.
The venn diagram of massive profits and legit health care is just two circles that don’t touch.
Kaiser Permanente is not for profit and not publicly traded. It’s not perfect, and it’s not cheap, but having dealt with America’s other insurance options, IMHO, it’s the best option in the US… if they’re in your state, and if you take the time to learn how to navigate an HMO.
Its not cheap, but it’s not nearly as expensive as the alternatives, and the don’t deny claims as much.
I had Kaiser for several years and it’s the best version of the US healthcare system I’ve seen. It was reasonably cheap (compared to other insurance), they didn’t jerk me around for referrals to their specialists, they have optometrists and pharmacies and stuff on site so you can get a few appts done in a day. It was convenient. Now, I’m sure some people have had a terrible time with them and I don’t deny their experiences, but it worked for me.
Same. I feel like, a few decades ago, you could make a good argument that PPO land gave you more choice in exchange for higher fees. But these days, the good private practices are completely slammed, and I honestly think it’s faster and easier to find a good doctor or specialist in Kaiser.
The crazy thing is that my spouse works for one of America’s PPO insurance companies, and she’s rather use my Kaiser plans. The care is better and the out of pocket is way less.
They take good care of their diabetic folks too
While it’s good that you’d want to improve the system you’ll have to look deeper as to why.
First results from my search:
Health insurance has about 3.3% net profit margin. United had 3.6% last data I found. (The rest of US industry average is 8.54%.)
The profit margins of insurance alone can’t explain why your healthcare costs 40% more than any other country.
Considering insurance, and medical facilities negotiate to set their costs every year, I don’t trust that their profit is so low.
I’d chalk this up to the kind of “creative accounting” they do in the movie industry. But that’s just a guess, I don’t have any knowledge on the matter.
Some of that is “clever” accounting, the rest is that healthcare insurances don’t have bargaining power with the providers. In Germany the state insurance companies have collective bargaining power so that for example an ambulance ride costs 500€ instead of 15000.
That’s by design.
The money is being paid out and the profits reaped elsewhere.
And run by the government! For All!
