Andrew

Husband - Father of 6 - Software Developer

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@PixelPusher4 @MaryWalterRadio @Garnet_2203 You say that like you weren't defending Taxes for Healthcare.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@princess_kim_k Seems like you've already made your mind up.

You're wrong. But hey. As long as you believe yourself.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@jvnior So you agree. Islam is destructive and you'll "Leave" if you get what you want.

So you'll destroy to get what you want.

We knew that already.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@JaneCaro Been carrying a gun for 30 years.

Never had any issues with mass shooters.

Oh and my wife carries too. Why do you want her to be harmed?

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@PixelPusher4 @MaryWalterRadio @Garnet_2203 That's because of insurance companies and government.

I posted about this:
https://t.co/uhFUXC205V

[Andrew @DruLeads]

Medical insurance is the main distortion in U.S. healthcare

When people argue about healthcare, they often start at the wrong end of the chain. They debate hospitals, doctors, drugs, or government programs but skip the central mechanism that sets incentives for everyone else: medical insurance.

In most markets, the buyer feels the real price and chooses based on value.

In U.S. healthcare, insurance inserts a third party between patient and provider, and that changes behavior across the board.

Prices rise, fraud spreads, and care becomes harder to access not because doctors are greedy or patients are careless, but because the system rewards opacity and billing complexity instead of simple competition.

How insurance enables higher prices

1) Third-party payment breaks normal price discipline

If you don’t pay directly, you don’t shop the same way.
When an insurer is paying, patients have weak price signals and providers compete less on price.

That’s one reason the U.S. has both the highest prices and the widest price variation in the developed world.

Even within the same hospital, negotiated rates can differ by multiples depending on insurer.

2) Opaque pricing is a feature, not a bug

Insurance requires coding, pre-authorization, claim submission, appeals, and “network” negotiations. This creates pricing that’s disconnected from real market demand.

Patients often don’t know costs until after care is delivered. Price-transparency rules exist precisely because normal transparency isn’t natural to this system. healthsystemtracker.org+1

3) Administrative overhead gets baked into premiums

A huge amount of U.S. health spending is not clinical care, it’s billing, eligibility checks, insurer negotiation, compliance reporting, and related bureaucracy.

Commonwealth Fund estimates that administrative costs explain roughly 30% of the U.S. spending gap vs peer countries (split between insurer overhead and provider-side admin burden driven by insurance complexity).

Commonwealth Fund

Even industry sources acknowledge private insurance admin costs are a meaningful, growing slice of spending. American Hospital Association

The result: patients and employers pay for a massive paperwork economy that only exists because insurance is the default payer.

How insurance makes fraud easier
Where money flows through layers of codes and reimbursements, fraud thrives.

Industry and law-enforcement estimates suggest 3–10% of total healthcare spending is lost to fraud annually.

Recent GAO testing found serious vulnerabilities in ACA exchange subsidies, with fake applicants often approved and subsidized due to weak verification.

This isn’t just about “bad actors.” Fraud is a predictable outcome of a system where: payments are complex,

verification is hard, and the consumer isn’t the direct payer scrutinizing value.

How insurance makes care harder to get

1) Networks and pre-approvals restrict access

To control costs after the fact, insurers create networks, referral gates, and prior authorization. Patients spend time fighting paperwork instead of getting treated. Providers hire staff just to deal with insurers.

2) Delayed or denied claims hurt providers

Claims can take months; denials are common; hospitals build entire departments around appeals. This pushes providers to overcode, overdocument, or consolidate to gain negotiating leverage all of which reduce competition and often raise prices.

What a freer market model aims to change?

A “free market” approach to healthcare doesn’t mean no safety net. It means restoring direct price-and-value competition wherever possible:
Patients pay providers directly for routine care (often via transparent cash pricing, membership/concierge models, or catastrophic-only insurance).
Hospitals and clinics post real prices and compete for business.

Insurance becomes what it was originally meant to be: coverage for rare, high-cost events, not prepayment for everything.

In markets that move closer to this model (think LASIK, many dental services, cosmetic procedures, some direct primary care), you consistently see:

posted prices,

consumer choice,

innovation, and
downward cost pressure over time.

Pros and cons

Pros of reducing insurance dominance / moving toward freer markets

1) Real price competition

Providers must match what people can afford, because patients feel prices directly.

2) Transparency becomes natural

If you’re paying, you demand a price up front.

3) Lower administrative waste

Less billing warfare means more money for care and lower costs overall. Commonwealth Fund

4) Less fraud opportunity

Fewer layers of reimbursement = fewer places to game codes.

5) Faster access for routine care

Direct-pay models avoid pre-approvals and network gatekeeping.

Cons / risks critics point to

1) Equity concerns

If more care requires direct payment, low-income patients could delay care without a strong subsidy/safety net. This is a key critique of freer-market systems. Panmore+1

2) Not all healthcare behaves like a normal market

Emergency care is time-sensitive; patients can’t “shop” during a stroke.

3) Market power can still distort prices

In regions with one dominant hospital system, prices may stay high unless antitrust or new entrants are possible. OUP Academic+1

4) Transition pain

Moving away from the current insurance-heavy system would be disruptive for employers, unions, hospitals, and patients used to low point-of-service costs.

5) Catastrophic events still need pooled risk

Even free-market advocates generally keep high-deductible catastrophic coverage for rare, expensive events.

Bottom line

Insurance is not just a tool inside healthcare it’s the engine that sets the incentives. When routine care is filtered through third-party payment, you get predictable outcomes: higher prices, more fraud openings, and more obstacles between patient and doctor.

A freer market approach tries to reverse that by restoring the patient as the real customer, pushing providers to compete on price and quality. Done well, it can lower costs and speed access for everyday care but it needs a serious plan for emergencies, low-income support, and monopolistic regions.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@tommysotogeist I don't speak for other people of my "skin tone". But I don't think people should be killing each other.

Black vs Black. White vs White or Black vs anyone or White vs anyone or anything in between.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@AntiLeftMemes Yes.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@shoshindev @whiskyy___818 Marriage isn't a commitment. It's an investment for women. And not in you.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@PixelPusher4 @MaryWalterRadio @Garnet_2203 I'm not forced to pay a premium. And my lifestyle has an impact on my medical costs.

Tax is totally different.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@DrRitaDed Except you can't. They exist. So there will always be guns. The Black Market is a thing.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@broadwaybabyto I'm sure you don't think "everyone" has value.

I've seen your posts. You have resentment of quite a few people. Do you think they have value too?

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@gator_gum You can't get rid of them. Just stop with the nonsense.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@broadwaybabyto @RighteousMang I'm sure that's what you want.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@RepBeccaB More lies from the left.

You want to pad the pockets of your donors. The ACA credits are you giving money to the pharmaceutical industry and insurance companies.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@MattMil67676964 @AnnieForTruth Good for you. I bet you own shit I don't want. Should we outlaw that?

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@AnnieForTruth Good for you.

You still aren't getting them. Good luck.

How many people are you willing to kill to make your fantasy a reality?

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@kylesweetser Hey... Pay your fair share.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@richardhowardd @waltermasterson We have gun control. What you mean is confiscation.

Yet. How do you plan this without being a hypocrite? And using guns.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@waltermasterson There literally is. Take all deaths and subtract the gang related ones.

We learn how to do this in grade school.

[Andrew @DruLeads]

@ninaturner @dillbuilds It should change everything if you have a brain.