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by hjorthjort
1547 days ago
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My first thought was "you know who would want this? Insurance companies!"
Doctor have a moral incentive -- often a strong one! -- to maximize your health, but they actually don't have the economic incentive to keep you healthy. Their incentives are similar to those of drug companies.
But insurance companies want you to need as little care as possible. They are the ones who will sponsor your checkups, may encourage you to exercise, etc. They also tend to have some sway over healthcare providers, or at least an ability to offer helpful information. And they have loads of money. Your operational costs should be peanuts to them. My insurance company (in Europe) offer me a free hotline of 24/7 medical workers for asking minor health questions, because they want to make sure I stay healthy, and the operational cost of that staff is probably way beyond what you need. Abd private insurance companies compete on customer features, so it could actually be a selling point for them to lock up customers, who tend to stick around for a long time. I realize I'm a total armchair advisor here and what the hell do I know. But reading how this person approached potential customers I kept thinking "oh man I wonder what will happen when he talks to the insurance companies, why would they not be interested?" |
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Sadly this isn't true. Regulated insurance companies that must pay out a minimum percentage of premiums (in other words their profits are limited by cost plus pricing) don't care if prices stay down. They only care about stability and no surprises in a given year and are okay with prices continuing to go up and up and up.
*Amount of care and prices/costs are not exactly the same thing but they are highly correlated.