[NoGravitas]

> Free goods have infinite demand.

I, too make unnecessary doctor appointments and hospital trips because my insurance covers them. I've developed a paraphilia for having blood drawn, and I'm considering having some perfectly functional limbs amputated.

[andrewlgood]

Silly response.

One study found 20.6% of overall medical care was unnecessary. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5587107/

Simple example is testing. If free to consumer, they will get too many cat scans and other expensive tests, "just in case."

[coredog64]

Testing is “free” to the provider, so they suggest it just in case.

The much maligned HMO was an early attempt at applying market discipline to medical care. Guess what? People hated it.

[dragonwriter]

> The much maligned HMO was an early attempt at applying market discipline to medical care. Guess what? People hated it.

HMOs remain common, and none of the satsifaction data I can find shows satisfaction with them significantly lower than PPOs or traditional insurance. Not sure why you act like they are something that exist only in the past or universally hated.

[gowld]

>The most common cited reasons for overtreatment were fear of malpractice (84.7%), patient pressure/request (59.0%), and difficulty accessing medical records (38.2%).

so not relevant to this coversation.

[DonnyV]

LOL...love it