Affordable Healthcare Vs Affordable Health Insurance

Much has been said lately on these pages and elsewhere about reforming health insurance and trying to find a road towards more affordable health insurance for all Americans. But perhaps the debate needs to be more focused on reforming actual healthcare and not health insurance.

Many believe that it is healthcare that is far too expensive in this country, and that has given rise to the far too expensive health insurance system we now have. Health insurance by its very nature today is unlike any other type of insurance. As a concept, in theory anyway, health insurance should be like any other kind of insurance we have, automobile, homeowners, wind flood etc – there to protect us from financial ruin in the face of disaster. Health insurance should serve the same purpose, and in fact for that purpose – so-called catastrophic illness or injury - affordable health insurance is readily available. A simple policy to cover major medical expenses and hospitalization with a high deductible can cost less than 100.00 per month.

It is the fact that so-called routine medical expenses; doctors visits, diagnostic test etc, have become so expensive, that people have become accustomed to the need to have “insurance” to pay for them. But by definition that is not the purpose of an “insurance policy”. Your car insurance does not pay for oil changes or gas, so why should medical insurance pay for check-ups and routine tests? It’s a legitimate question, and one that needs to be asked.

Many pundits are talking about the country being at a tipping point as regards affordable health and medical insurance, and that a fundamental change is in order. If that is the case then maybe it should be a change to a more basic “insurance” model more like what medical insurance was meant to be.

Insurance, like auto or homeowners works best when it is not used. We all know that, we all buy these other types of insurances with the hope we will never need them. So do the insurance companies - less claims keep the costs of individual policies and the cost of premiums down for everybody. But it has been a very different model in health insurance; our healthcare delivery system almost requires the use of insurance. So think about that, everyone who has health insurance is using it day in and day out – it is no wonder the costs keep rising and rising – it is the proverbial vicious cycle.

But is it a cycle that can be broken? Maybe. However, it will take some fundamental changes in thinking. We understand that there are basically two types of healthcare we need – catastrophic and routine. We have to stop thinking about paying for them the same way. Especially since one needs to be encouraged while the other discouraged. The more people that avail themselves of routine and preventive care, the less that will need catastrophic or long term care. Discount Health plans have been much maligned, but perhaps programs something like them to help pay for routine care need to be expanded upon, and traditional “health insurance” needs to be reserved to pay for unexpected large medical expenses, much like other insurance plans.