Lamp,

Or, mebbe, sometimes, it's about a services receiver who's conscious about what he or she is payin' for (and who demands bang for buck) instead of someone who just kinda ignores price since 'it's covered' (the insurance version of 'the commons').

And did I mention my new caps are almost PERFECT? :) Better than what I had before from my now dead dentist and after two breakings of THOSE caps.

"the incentives for healthcare providers to do things a certain way"

Also the incentives for the insured to turn a blind eye to cost.

After one meets his or her deductible: the cost is absorbed by the pool (the commons) so 'how much' is less important.

And: if 'how much' is less important, one is incentivized to just let the doc or hospital go nuts with tests and whatnot that may not be 'necessary'.

Sure, the insurance company wants to keep costs down but how 'gratuity-laden' is the relationship between insurer and medical provider? Buried in the line items are how many kick backs?

"my new caps are almost PERFECT"

Perfect example of one demanding bang for her buck... ;)

Which is a s lightly different thing to demanding bang from her buck... ;p

One simple explanation is that the dentist is offering a cash discount. Getting paid cash and right away is worth more to the dentist than getting paid more by an insurance company later and with more hassle, claim filing, etc.

Maybe it "costs" the dentist more to deal with insurance patients and he's just passing those costs along to his customers.

I'm not sure anybody's had a buck bang since 1929.

I did not see this last September... but here is something of a surprise (at least to me).

Forbes
9/15/13

I'll count each of those 35k improved health care plans indirect WIN's for the A.C.A.

This whole health care topic is spread through about a dozen threads here. I don't know where to post.

This should possibly even go in the post whore thread, because it's really not contributing to the discussion. But...

It's open enrollment here at work. Today I got the breakdown of the 3 plans I can choose from: the good expensive plan, the crappy expensive plan, and a new high deductible plan that is slightly cheaper but it so crappy, it's almost like not being insured. It only kicks in after a $3000 deductible. But then you'll be glad you have it, because you are SICK.

Anyway, looking at the price tags on all these plans, it occurred to me that when you count my employer's premium contributions, and my premium contributions, and also consider that we recently refinanced our house for a lower payment, we are now spending about double for health insurance what we are spending for housing here in expensive Arlington VA.

We are healthy, and we(including my employer) are spending twice as much for health insurance as we are for housing. I think that's messed up.

Well, excuse me ~

holy shit.

:eek:

Good for Wal-Mart! As we get into the ACA practice, we may find it's better than we thought.

Of course, it would have been nice to have seen it in action in a pilot program first, and to have the website for it working alright, but I digress.

The morning tv talk shows were a disappointment for me today.
Even the moderators used remarks that took the GOP stance of conflating
the Obamacare website performance and President Obama’s pledge
that "if you like the insurance you have, you can keep it".

Here is a more realistic view:

NY Times
Editorial
11/2/13

Insurance Policies Not Worth Keeping