Change is constant. Time it’s companion. In 1973 health insurance was “insurance” in the truest meaning of the word.
The Good Ole Days
There was no such thing as major medical or PPO networks. Health plans were indemnity plans. No health questions, limited underwriting, two year rate guarantees.
There was almost no government interference in the private health insurance sector. The full effects of the passage of Medicare in 1966 had not yet surfaced……..until 1974 when the federal government decided pregnancy was the same as any other illness.
Health Insurance Isn’t Anymore
Fast forward to today. Health insurance is no longer “insurance” in it’s truest sense. It’s a highly regulated government utility. Employers failing to follow government diktats are punished. “Networks” are lists of medical care givers who are considered “preferred” providers meaning all others aren’t. A medical caste system. Medical reimbursement is based off imaginary discounts off arbitrary billed charges no one ever pays. Average Americans cannot afford health insurance and those that do can’t afford to use it. Government welfare cloaked as “subsidies” have made health insurance company stockholders rich and middle class Americans dependent on the government teat.
The Future
Who knows what the future holds for the American health care delivery system. We can only guess. So let’s do that………………….
- Price controls will grow
- PPO networks will fade away and disappear
- Individual health insurance will dominate the market
- Group insurance plans will adopt innovative models flirting on the edges of rebellion
- Traditional health insurance brokers will become extinct
- Lawyers will replace traditional health insurance brokers
- More employers will outsource overseas to escape punishing government mandates
- Those reading this will eventually assume room temperature
