Derideo_Te
Je Suis Charlie
- Mar 2, 2013
- 20,461
- 7,961
- 360
For the sake of discussion let's examine the alternatives to Obamacare. Plenty of people here are strongly advocating that a consumer driven healthcare market would lower costs. This is based upon the concept that if medical service providers have to compete for consumer dollars the costs for services would come down. In principle it makes sense but as with anything we have to see if it works in practice.
For everyday healthcare where you need a GP to deal with the flu or a Lymne tick bite or your annual physicals a "low cost" provider is certainly a viable option. But what happens when you have a heart attack or are seriously injured in a car crash? Do you really want to take the time to find the cheapest ER or the closest? Then we start dealing with more serious issues like cancer or organ transplants. Does the cut price provider make sense when your life is on the line?
Another major aspect of healthcare are the costs of drugs. The more commonplace drugs for high blood pressure and cholesterol are available as generics. But what if you are diagnosed with a disease that requires a strict regimen of expensive drugs? As a sick person are you really going to spend the time to explore exactly what they do and what the side effects are and the potential interactions with the other drugs that you are taking? And then compare them to the alternatives and their side effects and interactions? Do you even understand the terminology that is used?
Being an informed consumer when it comes to buying clothes, laptops, dishwashers and cars is relatively easy because they are things that you use everyday and understand what they do and how they will meet your everyday needs.
But when it comes to healthcare becoming an "informed" consumer means spending a lot of time studying each and every aspect that could have an impact on your life. Don't forget that you still have a job, a family and a life. Doctors give up years of their lives full time to learn everything they need to know.
As a consumer how are you going to know if you are overpaying for something? How will you know when something is a "bargain"? How can you be certain that the "quality" of a procedure from one provider is better than the others?
If having a consumer driven healthcare market is genuinely what we want then how are we going to become informed consumers and make this happen? What are the steps we need to put in place to make this into a reality? Right now we aren't ready but if we want it to happen then we need a plan to get ready.
Please provide your suggestions on how we can have a viable consumer driven healthcare market.
Thank you.
For everyday healthcare where you need a GP to deal with the flu or a Lymne tick bite or your annual physicals a "low cost" provider is certainly a viable option. But what happens when you have a heart attack or are seriously injured in a car crash? Do you really want to take the time to find the cheapest ER or the closest? Then we start dealing with more serious issues like cancer or organ transplants. Does the cut price provider make sense when your life is on the line?
Another major aspect of healthcare are the costs of drugs. The more commonplace drugs for high blood pressure and cholesterol are available as generics. But what if you are diagnosed with a disease that requires a strict regimen of expensive drugs? As a sick person are you really going to spend the time to explore exactly what they do and what the side effects are and the potential interactions with the other drugs that you are taking? And then compare them to the alternatives and their side effects and interactions? Do you even understand the terminology that is used?
Being an informed consumer when it comes to buying clothes, laptops, dishwashers and cars is relatively easy because they are things that you use everyday and understand what they do and how they will meet your everyday needs.
But when it comes to healthcare becoming an "informed" consumer means spending a lot of time studying each and every aspect that could have an impact on your life. Don't forget that you still have a job, a family and a life. Doctors give up years of their lives full time to learn everything they need to know.
As a consumer how are you going to know if you are overpaying for something? How will you know when something is a "bargain"? How can you be certain that the "quality" of a procedure from one provider is better than the others?
If having a consumer driven healthcare market is genuinely what we want then how are we going to become informed consumers and make this happen? What are the steps we need to put in place to make this into a reality? Right now we aren't ready but if we want it to happen then we need a plan to get ready.
Please provide your suggestions on how we can have a viable consumer driven healthcare market.
Thank you.
