Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Health care report cards
How much profit or lack of profit one company has does not tell you what kind of health care you would receive from an insurance company. Some non-profit health insurance companies may have really horrible coverage, while other larger "profit hungry" companies may actually provide preventative health services. What we should be able to do on this "wild west" market or even when employers offer multiple choices for insurance, is be able to view report cards. I want to know what percentage of patients with company X get regular cholesterol screening or women over 50 get mammograms, how long is the average wait for a screening colonoscopy, etc. Of course, I would be shopping by price as well, but at least I would be able to make a decision about what kind of insurance plan I would be getting for my money. If I was young and healthy, I may choose to sacrifice some of these items for a lower cost, but maybe by age 50 it would be different. The same health care report cards could be used for different medical groups. As a consumer, I want to know what kind of health care I am spending my money on.
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I agree with this. We should not worry about profit margins and concentrate more on the quality of health care administered. Consumer satisfaction ratings, doctor ratings, and hospital rankings should be the best indicator of this. As consumers we shouldn't care about who is making what kinds of profits, we consume and we should want the best consumption possible for the best price.
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