[refurb]

Actually, single payers in the EU are much better equipped to pay $1M now to save $300k/yr in perpetuity. All medical spending comes from one big pile.

In the US, not people don’t stay with the same health plan for more than 2-3 years. So why would an insurance company pay $1M when they get 2-3 years of pay back, then the next insurer gets a free ride?

I know there is an MIT prof who is pushing the idea of something like a bond. Some external party pays the $1M and the insurer makes X payments until it’s paid off.

A interesting idea that even the single payers like as they have a more predictable budget.

[tehwebguy]

> In the US, not people don’t stay with the same health plan for more than 2-3 years. So why would an insurance company pay $1M when they get 2-3 years of pay back, then the next insurer gets a free ride?

One of the most compelling arguments for single payer which I’ve somehow never heard before now. Biding time in an effort to pass the buck should not be incentivized.

[tptacek]

Yeah, I'm not saying it doesn't make sense or that the EU wouldn't do it. I'm saying they aren't doing it, because the treatment is of unclear efficacy.

[fyolnish]

But that doesn’t have much to do with the price. Your comment sounded like you were saying the eu was being cheap.

[jstanley]

I thought it sounded like quite the opposite: he's not saying they aren't buying it because they're cheap (he points out that if it worked, and they were trying to be cheap, they would buy it). He's saying they're not buying it because it might not work very well.