Unfair billing is the heart of the health care disaster in America. One simple law could fix it and create conditions that would allow health care for all. Everyone is aware of the practice but nobody seems to realize the implications or people are afraid of the consequences that Fair Medical Billing would have.
Insurance companies are permitted to make deals with medical providers that significantly reduce the amount they have to pay for services. The figures are way out of proportion to any kind of efficiency of scale. My daughter's appendectomy was billed at $10,000. The insurance company only paid $1,000. I would have had to pay the full rate had I not been insured. This bears a striking resemblance to a mafia protection scheme and ought to be prosecuted under the RICO law. The Doctors and Insurers have conspired to fix prices that makes it very costly to go it alone. And how could any small insurer get a start in the business if the hospitals won't cut them the same deal.
We must enact Fair Medical Billing. Everyone receiving medical care should pay the same amount for the same service. It is unfair that a large insurance company can negotiate away 90% or more of the cost of a procedure but an uninsured patient gets billed the full amount.
The consequences of such legislation would be immense. The insurance companies will howl like demons spritzed with Holy Water if congress even considers such legislation because this would reveal the truth about their racket. Remember when they managed to influence enough votes to prevent government programs from negotiating the same deals? Here's a chance for the politicians who voted for that to regain their honor and support Fair Medical Billing. Everyone pays the same.
Yes, the insurance overlords would have to raise your rates to 10 times what you are paying now. Your company would have to drop your health care plan or make you pay much more. If you have insurance you would find yourself on the same level playing field with the 50 million who don't. You are the ones who are afraid of the consequences.
But once the unfair advantage is gone so is the power of insurers over politicians. We could discuss a national insurance program from a rational viewpoint instead of one built on fear, greed and pride. Humble yourself.