One of the largest factors in the cause of rising health care (and therefore health insurance) is the Medicare Cost Shifting. It is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. During the budgetary process in Washington, the Congress and the President cut Medicare spending by reducing Medicare reimbursement rates. These are the fees paid to Doctors and Hospitals. When a Medicare patient pays a visit to their physician, the federal government pays that bill. The problem is that when the government continuously reduces the amount of the fee the doctor will receive, the doctor must recover that fee elsewhere. Providers do that by raising fees on other privately insured, or uninsured patients. Due to this issue, the number of providers that accept the "Medicare Assignment" is getting smaller every day since providers cannot cover their costs with the Medicare system. (By the way - the State Medicaid system works in a similar fashion. This is the health insurance program for the poor.)
Of course this is only one factor in a problem that continues to get worse. The point is that Medicare is a government program that is broken and full of politcal obstacles. When the government cuts that spending, we all pay for it in terms of higher health care costs and therefore insurance costs. A HIDDEN TAX. Politicians need to admit that this is a huge factor in the rising cost of care rather, than blaming Doctors and Insurance Companies alone.
The Federal System is broken, yet Washington seems to be headed in the direction of "reforming health care" by providing a Medicare like system or option. Is this the model we want for "health care reform"? Or do we want to improve a a private system that provides the best health care in the world?
The privately funded sytem can be reformed and reduce overall costs with a series of systemic and regulatory changes, without reducing the freedom we currently have to choose our own coverage, our own course of treatment and our own doctors.
