It is doubtful that the dramatically escalating consolidation in both the health insurance industry and among hospitals and doctors will make our health care system either more efficient or more competitive.
This reminds me of the Cold War. Each side gets more powerful so that
the other side can’t come to dominate it. The two sides finally get so
big and powerful they reach a point of détente—let’s just agree to get
along. Or, in the case of the Cold War, one side just ultimately spends the other
side into submission.
That kind of environment doesn’t create more
efficiency or innovation but undermines real competition just like you
would expect one oligopoly facing off against another to do. We just end
up with a few muscle bound players creating sizable barriers for new
innovative and disruptive players to enter.
Read more on my Post at Forbes
A Health Care Reform Blog––Bob Laszewski's review of the latest developments in federal health policy, health care reform, and marketplace activities in the health care financing business.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
California Senate Votes To Open Up Obamacare To 2.5 Million Illegal Residents
King V. Burwell Opponents Said Killing Subsidies Would Blow Up
Obamacare––Now They Want To Open Up Unsubsidized Care To Illegal
Californians
And consider this. Passage of the California legislation that has already cleared the Senate (SB 4) could be a real boon to the business of health care delivery in California. California’s impressive medical system could be the leader in international medical tourism. SB 4 would also make it clear that a foreign person could land at LAX, give Covered California a call and sign up for an almost full pay Platinum plan for a few hundred dollars a month, on the first of the following month when their coverage became effective show up at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and have thousands of dollars of treatment, get back on the plane and go home, and then drop the coverage.
See my post at Forbes
And consider this. Passage of the California legislation that has already cleared the Senate (SB 4) could be a real boon to the business of health care delivery in California. California’s impressive medical system could be the leader in international medical tourism. SB 4 would also make it clear that a foreign person could land at LAX, give Covered California a call and sign up for an almost full pay Platinum plan for a few hundred dollars a month, on the first of the following month when their coverage became effective show up at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and have thousands of dollars of treatment, get back on the plane and go home, and then drop the coverage.
See my post at Forbes