sleeper;1857233 wrote:Increased preventative care is a huge saver.
Don't need Obamacare for that. People have to use their insurance, and that's generally not very widespread.
sleeper;1857233 wrote:Cutting the 10% profit and 30% overhead costs of individual insurers another.
I knew you'd start with that popularly ignorant meme (and, incidentally, averages are about half the percentages you cited). The overhead savings are minimal because you still need to administrate - the insurers are already large enough to have scale. And LOL at the govt doing it more efficiently (before you use Medicare as an example, realize that a lot of that administrative cost is offloaded to hospitals and other providers).
sleeper;1857233 wrote:Spreading the pool of risks across a very large population reduces the cost per user. Having the government lower drug costs and procedures to that of Medicare reimbursement rates which are by far the lowest in the US.
The risks are already spread across a very large population. And the costs of uninsureds is largely absorbed by the insured. There are some savings there, but not in total healthcare costs. Medicare pays less, to the point of questionable profitability (which is why some doctors/hospitals refuse any medicare patients, and nearly all limit how many they will take).
You can only squeeze the turnip so much. Profits fund R&D and technological advances - you're health insurance will be lower, but then your taxes are going to need to be higher to fund more R&D from the federal govt.
What does the above chart tell you? Admin costs are about $550 high (14%). Drugs are another $300 (8%). Ambulatory care (outpatient) is 40%, and Hospitalization/Nursing homes is about 38%. I'd point out a leading factor in admin costs is actually technology, and heck drugs could be explained by the American tendency to over-medicate.
I just find it comical that everyone's favorite villain - insurance and drugs - is only a total of 22% of the problem (if we assume none of that is a structural or COL difference).
I'll add that studies find Medicare/Medicaid is about 26% cheaper than private insurance....but the joke is that retirees who can afford it spend a significant amount on supplemental insurance. Don't let anyone fool you that medicaid/medicare is as good as more costly private insurance.