Health Insurers Will Now Have to Post Negotiated Prices

This is big news for everyone involved in healthcare. This article in the WSJ by Stephanie Armour ([email protected]) does a good job summarizing how health insurers will now have to post negotiated prices. Maybe, just maybe, we can let the free market work. These bastards are the ultimate evil.

Proponents of price disclosure say it would drive down health-care costs by forcing hospitals and insurers to compete for patients based on price and quality of care. They envision technology companies using the mandated public data file to build apps for consumers to search for medical services and procedures based on negotiated rates and their out-of-pocket costs.

What do the insurers think about this? Well, let me list their thoughts from the piece with my criticisms in parenthesis:

  • Health insurers say the move could hurt competition. (What competition? They have regional monopolies! When is the last time you saw a commercial that said take 15 minutes to say 15 minutes on your health insurance?)
  • They say it will drive up costs for consumers. (Yeah, like you do every year? You doubled your profits during COVID 19 and are still raising rates 10% next year!)
  • They say price-shopping apps developed by third parties could wind up putting beneficiaries’ information at risk. (Ummm, how many times have you been hacked? Yeah, thought so.)

Could these lowlifes lie anymore? Health insurers are Public Enemy #1 in my opinion. They are the biggest lobbying group in this country and pay off every politician they can. Does that mean I want a single payer system for the country. No! I do not want a system run like the DMV. I want the old “major medical” insurance where major catastrophes are covered. No one should go bankrupt for a medical issue. On the other side of the coin, people need to learn to shop around for their healthcare needs. This blog has been saying this for years. Do I want the health insurers to be hurt? Yes. We need competition. We need a real free market.

What are your thoughts?

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