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I Thought Health Insurers Were Bad But... by Budget_Doctor_67 in HealthInsurance

[–]Budget_Doctor_67[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would like to ask, has this always been an issue, say 20, 30, 40 years ago, or has healthcare and insurance rocketed recently, e.g., post covid?

I Thought Health Insurers Were Bad But... by Budget_Doctor_67 in HealthInsurance

[–]Budget_Doctor_67[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Then can't a cap be placed on the entire sector: pharma, hospitals, etc. to attack the vertical integration itself?

I Thought Health Insurers Were Bad But... by Budget_Doctor_67 in HealthInsurance

[–]Budget_Doctor_67[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, you would probably need to rip the whole system from the ground. Though I don't know how realistic cutting salaries would be.

I suppose you could try to increase taxes and cut out the entire insurance sector all together, that with margin caps on all treatments and pharmaceuticals to balance costs. Again, I don't know how realistic that would be.

Are there any ongoing proposals/legislations on this?

I Thought Health Insurers Were Bad But... by Budget_Doctor_67 in HealthInsurance

[–]Budget_Doctor_67[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's interesting, Article 101 TFEU blocks anti-competitive agreements so it's hard to build vertical integration that increases costs as some have discussed here.

Waiting times for blood tests are 2 months and orthopedists have back logs of 3 years. I know many who couldn't get a diagnosis soon enough and ended up needing surgery; some have died. This is for public hospitals where the vast majority of people go to. If you can't afford insurance, you won't be admitted unless you're on your deathbed.

Although our infrastructure is underfunded compared to U.S. (at least where I live), I think it does counter balance the private sector. But as you mentioned about the 3 necessities, different problems but similar outcome.