re: #572 EmmmieG

I am “those people” and I’m not saying they’re the problem, I’m saying the problem is that we have no incentive to be frugal. No incentive to seek out the lowest cost for the best product, like we normally do.

I don’t even know what my doctor charges for a check-up. The prices are different for self-pay, insurance, and medicare anyway.

As for deductibles, it’s only an incentive to be frugal if it’s a percentage. My co-pay is a set amount, regardless of the cost of service. I remember a friend saying years ago, who had percentage insurance, that if she had known what cost a certain service was, she would have gone without.

My comments about the Iron Curtain have to do with the idea of command economies and government monopolies. Right now in Oregon, they have government insurance for children (sliding scale payments.) They had to admit that there were some places you wouldn’t be able to get a pediatrician because of costs.

Price caps cause shortages.

Selling a product that their is no realistic alternative to tends to cause price spikes in an uncontrolled market especially if collusion exists between the companies selling said product.