UNAGIDON ON HEATHCARE AND CAPITALISM
Unagidon is the pen name of an executive from the insurance industry who writes on heath care costs among other things. The following articles are relevant to the area of heath care and capitalism. The first is a fine overview but each of the others develops some aspect of the puzzle. WHY HEALTH CARE WON'T BE A FREE MARKET Health care will never become a true free market— it lacks both price and quality transparency. 1. Insurers and providers collude to keep the public in the dark about cost: Commercially insured patients pay, on average, about 145 percent of their costs, i.e. they are subsidizing Medicare, Medicaid and “charity” patients.. 2. Commercially insured patients are subsidizing the other person’s choice of hospital as well as their basic treatment. Any attempt to find a cheaper service has no effect at all on the total price. 3. Big expensive hospitals are buying smaller, less expensive ones, and apply their big-hospital expensive contract rates ...