Court Says Bureaucrats, Not Doctors, Decide What Is ‘Medically Necessary’
Many good comments, but you all make a wrong assumption. You assume that either the government or an insurance company must pay your bills for you. Both are wrong. What people think of as health insurance is actually a third party payment plan which the government adds mandates to that keep it much more expensive than it needs to be.
The proper fix to the system is to keep as much money away from the government and insurance companies as possible. We need vastly expanded health savings accounts, so that we control the resources for day to day spending. This and only this approach will lead to quality, innovation, and lower costs.
As a physician, I see this dynamic play out every day. I see people, especially medicaid dependent people, who do not care what anything costs, because to them it is all free. In reality, the court decision is correct. The state, if they pay for you should have the right to decide what you do or do not get. Those who control their own resources, get to make their own decisions. If we do not set it up this way then their is no incentive not to be on the public dole. If we put everyone on the public dole, then nobody gets a choice.
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