[jakelazaroff]

No, it's definitely more efficient:

- Preventative care is far cheaper and more effective than reactive care (e.g. your dentist telling you to floss more in a particular area vs. filling a cavity vs. filling a root canal)

- Insurance is more effective at dispersing costs amongst a larger pool of people

- In a system like the US where insurance companies must negotiate prices with healthcare providers, larger pools have more bargaining power

[hellojesus]

Yes, but what happens when you remove competition? Bargining power becomes absolute.

What happens when the single purchaser of healthcare refuses to pay an amount sufficient to raise supply to meet demand?

[jakelazaroff]

There's no need to ask this as a hypothetical; simply look at the many, many countries that have successfully implemented such systems.

[HaZeust]

I used to actually bat against universal healthcare for this reason, until COVID. The majority of private insurance companies are already doing that, here.

[hellojesus]

I think this is mostly because the US system strips choice from the individual. I hypothesize the outcomes would be far better if we decoupled private health insurance from employment and allowed an oprn market for individual consumers.

[jakelazaroff]

I have good news: the open market you're describing already exists! You are free to decline your employer's health insurance and sign up for a private plan at healthcare.gov.

[hellojesus]

I know it exists, but there is no point to denying the employer provided plan unless one is substantially better off paying for out of pocket care plus the forgone income from the employer.

I would propose that we legislate the ban of employer provided healthcare benefits instead of making it universal.

[jakelazaroff]

If you think the foregone income would make the difference, negotiate a raise from your employer in exchange for waiving their health insurance. Problem solved!

You can do what you're describing today, in this world. I think the fact that you don't is instructive.