Health Insurance company profits

[donquixote99]

Elective surgery is not just having a mole taken off. Fixing a totally blown knee is elective surgery. A blown knee won't kill you. You could fix the knee now, in 6 months, or never. When is a choice. Somebody's choice....

Changing the way the doctors and hospitals are paid does have big implications. Right now, estimates are that 1/4 to 1/3 of medical procedures done in the US are unnecessary. But the providers get paid per procedure. This is not only expensive, it is harmful to patients. Things go wrong sometimes when procedures are done.

Of course, if one goes to a managed care system where the providers get paid the same whether they do procedures or not, the incentive becomes to not do them, and people who need care may have a hard time getting it. This is where you get the long waiting times and stuff. Some say the solution is to 'pay for outcomes,' but that gets complex.