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Old 06-29-2009, 08:57 PM   #4
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,191
Quote:
Originally Posted by ERD50 View Post
So many people label the ins cos as "greedy" - then why aren't they working to get more for less? Doesn't add up for me.
The insurance companies do push back. They try to lower the dollar amount they will cover for a specific procedure ("reasonable and customary"). They try not to cover other procedures. But at the end of the day, the insurance companies don't consume health care, people do. And the way our system is set up now many of those people don't pay much for it out of their own pocket so they just consume whatever their doctor says to without regard for cost. Insurance companies increase premiums to cover all the excess care. And employers reduce wages to pay for the higher insurance premiums. Ultimately the customer pays for his care, he just doesn't pay for it directly . . . and that is a huge part of the problem.

If you read the New Yorker article you might have noticed that Medicare spent more per person in McAllen, TX than the town's per capita income.
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