This article from the Weekly Standard almost makes me want to cry with frustration. It shows how the healthcare system generally would function in the absence of government-imposed distortions such as Medicare, Medicaid, and (especially!) the tax loophole for employer-provided insurance. Sadly, Obamacare will push the system even further in the wrong direction. And when those bad results become obvious, I can safely predict politicians will blame the free market and use the mess as an excuse for even more government intervention. This is “Mitchell’s Law”: Bad policy begets more bad policy.
On a wall inside Dr. Brian Forrest’s medical office in a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, is something you won’t find in most doctors’ offices, a price list… Forrest doesn’t take insurance. If he did, the prices would be far higher and not nearly as transparent. He says listing prices up front is about trying to do business in a straightforward way, “like a Jiffy Lube.” Forrest’s practice, Access Healthcare, was born out of his frustration with the bureaucratic system run by major health care providers and insurance companies. His epiphany came about 10 years ago, as he was completing his family medicine residency at Wake Forest University. “I was basically being told I needed to see 30 patients a day every day, and that’s what we had to do,” he recalls, speaking with a soft drawl. He didn’t care for that pace, preferring to spend 45 minutes to an hour with each patient. …Because he doesn’t have to file insurance forms, he only needs a single office assistant, and the low overhead allows him to charge less than other doctors. Occasionally, his charges wind up being less than just the co-pays for Medicare or private insurance. He’s negotiated deals with a lab company to reduce his patients’ costs for tests. The lab loves being paid on the spot for services rendered and allows Forrest to charge his patients $30, for example, for a prostate-cancer screening test that the company bills to an insurer at $184. “For specialists, cash in the hand is better than a bigger amount charged to insurance,” he says. He’s found other doctors happy to join in, such as a cardiologist who’s willing to give discounts of 80 to 90 percent to his patients if he’s paid cash up front. “The discovery I made was that by getting rid of administrative, bureaucratic hassles, I was able to do very well financially and at the same time have high patient satisfaction and good quality of care,” he says. Even more surprising, most of his patients are not wealthy. Half have no insurance, and another 15 percent are on Medicare. …in recent months, he’s been flooded with inquiries from fellow doctors. “Since the health care reform bill passed, you wouldn’t believe the number of doctors who have said they’ve had it and want to operate outside the system,” he says.
[…] Indeed, I’ve shared previous examples of this phenomenon from Maine and North Carolina. […]
[…] Indeed, I’ve shared previous examples of this phenomenon from Maine and North Carolina. […]
[…] P.S. If you want to get a flavor for how competition and markets generate better results, watch this Reason TV video and read these stories from Maine and North Carolina. […]
[…] P.S. If you want to get a flavor for how competition and markets generate better results, watch this Reason TV video and read these stories from Maine and North Carolina. […]
[…] the same reason, I also recommend this story from North Carolina, as well as this example of capitalism from […]
[…] the same reason, I also recommend this story from North Carolina, as well as this example of capitalism from […]
[…] deliver health care at lower cost and with greater efficiency. For another example, here’s a report from North Carolina on free-market healthcare in […]
[…] the disaster of ObamaCare. Real health care reform is coming from doctors around the country. They are providing better health care at lower […]
[…] system would operate, watch this superb video from Reason TV. If you want more examples, here’s a report from North Carolina on free-market healthcare in action and here’s a similar story about capitalist healthcare in […]
[…] And if they want another example, here’s a report from North Carolina on free-market healthcare in action. […]
[…] already cited the case of a North Carolina doctor who decided to use market-based pricing, and I’ve shared a very powerful video from Reason TV […]
[…] And if they want another example, here’s a report from North Carolina on free-market healthcare in action. […]
[…] deliver health care at lower cost and with greater efficiency. For another example, here’s a report from North Carolina on free-market healthcare in […]
[…] deliver health care at lower cost and with greater efficiency. For another example, here’s a report from North Carolina on free-market healthcare in […]
[…] And if they want another example, here’s a report from North Carolina on free-market healthcare in action. […]
[…] nightmare of Obamacare and written several times about the serious problem of government-caused third-party payer – including just as few days ago while nit-picking about an otherwise excellent column […]
[…] The Way Healthcare Should Function « International Liberty. Share this:TwitterRedditFacebookEmailPrintDiggStumbleUponLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. ← ‘I Feel Duped on Climate Change’ – By Greg Pollowitz – Planet Gore – National Review Online […]
[…] I’ve cited a real-world example of how the system would work if the third-party payer crisis was […]
[…] scheme is not the answer. At some point, when all the various government policies fail, we should give free markets a try. Rate this: Share […]
The only prob. in such a set-up could be some dissatisfied (for whatever reason) patient who decides to sue for malpractice.