I’ve often complained that government-created third-party payer is the main problem with America’s healthcare system, and I was making that point well before Obamacare was imposed upon the country.
Simply stated, people won’t be smart consumers and providers won’t compete to keep costs low when the vast majority of expenses are paid for either by government programs or by insurance companies.
That’s why I want to see reforms to Medicare and Medicaid, not only to save money for taxpayers, but also because that’s one of the steps that is needed if we want market forces to bring down the cost of healthcare.
And I want to see a flat tax, not only for the pro-growth impact of lower tax rates, but also because it gets rid of the internal revenue code’s healthcare exclusion, thus ending the distortion that encourages over-insurance.
With all that in mind, I’m obviously a big fan of this new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity.
Narrated by Julie Borowski from FreedomWorks, the video explains that third-party payer has been a growing problem for decades and that it would have required fixing even if the Supreme Court hadn’t botched the Obamacare decision.
And now that we’re stuck with Obamacare, at least temporarily, it’s more important than ever to deal with this underlying problem.
P.S. This new video expands upon the analysis provided in a previous CF&P video.
P.P.S. Setting aside the debate about whether it’s right or wrong, the abortion market also is an interesting case study of how prices don’t rise when consumers pay out of pocket.
P.P.P.S. Government-created third-party payer also is screwing up the market for higher education.
[...] you’d like to learn more about this portion of the problem take a few moments and view this video from Center for Freedom and [...]
Mr. Mitchell:
The place for the video is black – no image and no “play” button.
Tech problem on my end or yours?
Thank you
Interesting take! I gave you a RT. It’s certainly true that the third party payer system removes market forces that would typically keep prices low. If the health insurance just agreed to split everything 50-50 up to $XXX and then they’d cover everything else it would make a lot more sense. With fixed copays, deducibles, coinsurance, etc. it is a big mess.
Why do you think Obamacare is “a good start”?
[...] care in America, and how Obamacare will only make it all worse. As Daniel Mitchell pointed out, repealing Obamacare is just a good start in fixing the health care mess.google_ad_client = "ca-pub-1395656889568144"; /* 300×250, created 8/11/08 */ google_ad_slot = [...]
[...] Here’s what I wrote on the issue. [...]
I take your point (or the point of the video) that 3rd party payers distort the health care market, but getting from here to there is not going to be an easy path because even if we had a totally free market in health care, with no 3rd party payments, the median family income is about $50,000 a year; an income that is too low to deal with a major medical condition even with a high deductible insurance plan.
At least for the foreseeable future, 3rd party payers are here to stay. The trick is to have them mimic a free market in healthcare as closely as possible.
[...] offers more detail here, and he recommends the video below from the Center for Freedom and [...]
[...] won’t solve the real problems, according to Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute. He says the real problem is third-party payment which developed because of employer-provided health insurance. Consumers have no incentive to be [...]
[...] Anyway, Dan sent an email to some bloggers recently to share a video about third-party payer systems and why health care costs continue to rise. Dan also wrote a great piece about the video here. [...]
[...] Courtesy D Mitchell. [...]
[...] And here’s more from Daniel Mitchell at Cato. [...]
[...] is a principal cause (along with failed entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid) of the third-party payer crisis. Shifting to a flat tax means that all forms of employee compensation are taxed at the same low [...]
[...] is a principal cause (along with failed entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid) of the third-party payer crisis. Shifting to a flat tax means that all forms of employee compensation are taxed at the same low [...]
[...] stated, the main healthcare problem in America is the third-party payer crisis. As explained in this video, markets are dysfunctional when government programs and other forms of intervention create a system [...]
[...] rising more rapidly in America. The bad news is that this is a reasonable assumption (thanks to our third-party payer problem). The good news is that we can easily solve the problem with a combination of entitlement reform [...]
[...] back to monetary policy, here’s Julie Borowski’s Fed-bashing video (she also narrated this video on the third-party payer problem), and here’s the famous “Ben Bernank” video. Rate this:Share [...]
[...] rising more rapidly in America. The bad news is that this is a reasonable assumption (thanks to our third-party payer problem). The good news is that we can easily solve the problem with a combination of entitlement reform [...]
[...] rising more rapidly in America. The bad news is that this is a reasonable assumption (thanks to our third-party payer problem). The good news is that we can easily solve the problem with a combination of entitlement reform [...]
[...] capped, which would be a nice step on the long – but important – task of dealing with the third-party payer crisis in the healthcare [...]
[...] Repealing Obamacare Won’t Solve the Healthcare Mess (but It’s a Good Start) [...]
[...] of the American healthcare system. It suffers from huge inefficiencies because of problems such as third-party payer, which is caused by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid along with a system of tax [...]
[...] of the American healthcare system. It suffers from huge inefficiencies because of problems such as third-party payer, which is caused by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid along with a system of tax [...]
[...] of the American healthcare system. It suffers from huge inefficiencies because of problems such as third-party payer, which is caused by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid along with a system of tax [...]
[...] of the American healthcare system. It suffers from huge inefficiencies because of problems such as third-party payer, which is caused by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid along with a system of tax [...]
[...] of the American healthcare system. It suffers from huge inefficiencies because of problems such as third-party payer, which is caused by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid along with a system of tax [...]
[...] of the American healthcare system. It suffers from huge inefficiencies because of problems such as third-party payer, which is caused by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid along with a system of tax [...]
[...] policies that have prevented markets from operating in the healthcare sector. That’s not my view, so I’m merely saying Godwin has a legitimate point, not that he’s [...]
[...] Repealing Obamacare Won’t Solve the Healthcare Mess (but It’s a Good Start) [...]
Another great article and video from you Dan!!!
[...] So they are baffled when I tell them that nearly one-half of all health expenditures in America are directly financed by taxpayers and that the supposedly private part of our healthcare system is massively distorted by government interference and intervention. [...]
[...] is a principal cause (along with failed entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid) of the third-party payer crisis. Shifting to a flat tax means that all forms of employee compensation are taxed at the same low [...]
[...] and a very powerful video to help explain how government subsidies in health care have created a third-party payer problem that has resulted in rapidly rising prices and considerable inefficiency in that [...]
[...] that extra money by eliminating distortions such as the state and local tax deduction or the healthcare exclusion. Compared to raising marginal tax rates, those are much-preferred ways of generating more revenue. [...]
[...] that extra money by eliminating distortions such as the state and local tax deduction or the healthcare exclusion. Compared to raising marginal tax rates, those are much-preferred ways of generating more revenue. [...]
[...] rising more rapidly in America. The bad news is that this is a reasonable assumption (thanks to our third-party payer problem). The good news is that we can easily solve the problem with a combination of entitlement reform [...]
[...] is a principal cause (along with failed entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid) of the third-party payer crisis. Shifting to a flat tax means that all forms of employee compensation are taxed at the same low [...]
[...] rising more rapidly in America. The bad news is that this is a reasonable assumption (thanks to our third-party payer problem). The good news is that we can easily solve the problem with a combination of entitlement reform [...]
[...] and a very powerful video to help explain how government subsidies in health care have created a third-party payer problem that has resulted in rapidly rising prices and considerable inefficiency in that [...]
[...] If you want to understand what needs to happen, I encourage you to watch two short videos, one from Reason TV and the other from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. [...]
[...] If you want to understand what needs to happen, I encourage you to watch two short videos, one from Reason TV and the other from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. [...]
[...] If you want to understand what needs to happen, I encourage you to watch two short videos, one from Reason TV and the other from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. [...]
[…] also is capped, which would be a nice step on the long – but important – task of dealing with the third-party payer crisis in the healthcare […]
[…] frequently argued that “third-party payer” is the main problem with the healthcare system. In simpler terms, this is the notion that a market won’t function […]
[…] So they are baffled when I tell them that nearly one-half of all health expenditures in America are directly financed by taxpayers and that the supposedly private part of our healthcare system is massively distorted by government interference and intervention. […]
[…] In other words, it would be great to repeal Obamacare, but fixing the healthcare system requires far more sweeping reform. […]