A ‘Third Way’ On Health Care That Works From the Netherlands
The Australian system has a few features that the USA might consider…..
1. Personal injury insurance (all parties) in a motor vehicle accident is covered by the mandatory insurance which is part of the vehicle registration. Ambulance chasing is eliminated totally. Medical bills (and some loss of wages) are not a concern.
2. The government selects a set of prescription drugs based on medical practice and medical evaluations of cost versus benefits. It then negotiates with the manufacturers to purchase the entire country’s usage. And they get pretty good prices. Individuals then pay about a standard AU$33 (US$26) per script. Those on pensions – age or welfare – pay about AU$4. Unless of course the real cost is less than that. The big pharma companies do not like that. But they must participate if they want to sell the generally available drugs. And yes you can get non listed drugs – just pay the full cost.
Two items which when removed from the USA general health insurance coverage would drastically reduce premiums.
But even here – the insurance coverage encourages some people to continue to make poor health choices – particularly in the areas of diet, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking.
Fred
