My esteemed co-blogger at MedPage Today goes off on insurance companies and extols the reimbursement benefits of Medicare:
Ultimately, this is why I would like to see a government-run health plan*. They would have no profit incentive, and thus no motivation to harass providers and patients in an effort to cut a few corners and increase profitability. Our billing office submits 30+% of our claims to Medicare, but spends less than 5% of its administrative time on Medicare claims. Give me that any day.* Hypothetically, presuming such a plan were adequately funded and met a multitude of other criteria. No such concrete proposal currently exists.
Deal-breaking asterisk there. The key to any government-run health plan is whether it is “adequately funded”. I have zero confidence that will ever happen, and placing faith that our government would do so is folly.
Take one look at the two government health-children, the VA and the Indian Health Service. Both severely underfunded to the point of collapse. What makes anyone think a nationwide plan will be different?
Look at single-payer Canada. Underfunded. The NHS. Underfunded.
Also, don’t be fooled thinking that a government-run system will help with the bureaucracy. Compared with private insurers (at least where I practice), I have the same number of pre-authorizations, hoops to jump through, and denial of services when dealing with Medicare.
A bureaucrat is a bureaucrat when it comes to saying “no”. It doesn’t matter if they are from the government or an insurance company.
