The American Chronicle wonders why McCain doesn’t do a good job defending his health care plan. With Health Savings Accounts as the centerpiece of his plan, you could see why this would interest us.
But consumers of health care don´t think about that when they undergo a treatment or service. They just assume insurance will cover everything, so they don´t concern themselves with what it´s going to cost. Then, if the insurer rejects a claim, they find themselves in a financial crisis.
McCain´s plan flips this around. Instead of using a tax incentive to encourage employer-provided health coverage, it shifts the tax incentive to individuals – giving them the deduction so they can buy their own coverage. That way they don´t depend on their employer, and they´re more involved in the process, which should serve as an incentive for them to pay more attention to the costs.
This works. I am self-employed and I have a Health Savings Account along with a high-deductible insurance policy. When my wife and I go to the doctor, they always ask us for our insurance card. When we tell them we are paying for it ourselves, they look at us like we´re from Mars. They´re like the robot from Lost in Space waving his arms proclaiming, “That does not compute!”
Consumer empowerment in health care – actually paying for it yourself – is so alien to health care providers, you´d think you were proposing to pay them with leaves. But those who do pay their own way are a lot more cognizant of what everything costs, and a lot more careful about what they agree to pay for.
Tags: American Chronicle
Tags: American Chronicle
