Do you mean to suggest that consumers might be more careful when spending their own money than when spending other people’s money? Wow! What a concept! Allow me to suggest that you have exposed one of the greatest faults in our health-care system. Since its conception, indemnity-type health insurance has always been about OPM–and the American public has been quick to embrace the concept.
If someone else is paying the bill, what does it matter what it costs? If you don’t believe me, simply ask your physician what the test he has recommended costs or ask the technician what the X-ray costs that she or he has just exposed. You will get blank stares because they are clueless. Who cares?
“The insurance company will pay for it,” we are told. It’s an easy answer when it’s OPM on the line.
As a self-employed professional, I have bought individual health care insurance for my family and myself for many years. When the “high deductible MSA/HSA” policy became available, I quickly embraced the concept. Nothing will raise your health insurance IQ faster than making you accountable for first-dollar spending. The headache or sprained finger that might have taken you to the emergency room can now (remarkably) wait until the next morning and a (relatively!) inexpensive office visit.
Or, as actually happened to us, the $416 blood test your doctor ordered might now prompt you to “shop around” and find that those very same tests can be had for $142.50. My personal experience suggests that there is almost no end to the savings available to the cost-conscious consumer when you simply tell the provider that no insurance benefits are available.
