re: #153 windsagio

And again, whats with the sudden outpouring of love for the scummy coverage-denying, gouging insurance companies?

They’re the only ones to lower costs!?!?!

Who else is acting to lower costs? The doctors and hospitals? The pharmaceutical companies? The patients?

The patients would be the most likely group to do so, but they’re typically insulated from the actual costs by insurance plans, and don’t much care if a procedure costs $50 or $5000 if all they see is a $25 copay either way.

Insurance companies actively work to reduce the cost of medical services. I’m not aware of any other players at the moment who do, or who do so much.

For a very detailed look at health insurance, how it came to be the way it is and related topics like prescription copays and their effect on drug prices, I highly recommend this episode of This America Life. Very well done, and often surprising.