> This is a real concern for me because people credit the ACA with making a big dent in the healthcare problem here in the US, but it feels more like it just created a massive legal protection...
Both are true! The ACA is a literal life-saver and bankrupcy-avoider for a significant percentage of the population. So it is a huge win for the common person.
At the same time, yes, it perpetuates the corrupt insurance system, which is bad. But at least makes it more widely available, which is good.
> Not every system becomes more efficient with profit incentives, and this really seems like just such a case.
Health care can only ever get worse with profit incentives. The best way would be to eject all the profiteering out of the system so that only the people who provide actual care (doctors, nurses, medical technicians,etc) get paid. Remove all profit from the hangers-on that do nothing useful (insurance middlemen).
The path to get there is obvious, but politically quite impossible in the US (and only in the US, since every other country has it figured out.)
Both are true! The ACA is a literal life-saver and bankrupcy-avoider for a significant percentage of the population. So it is a huge win for the common person.
At the same time, yes, it perpetuates the corrupt insurance system, which is bad. But at least makes it more widely available, which is good.
> Not every system becomes more efficient with profit incentives, and this really seems like just such a case.
Health care can only ever get worse with profit incentives. The best way would be to eject all the profiteering out of the system so that only the people who provide actual care (doctors, nurses, medical technicians,etc) get paid. Remove all profit from the hangers-on that do nothing useful (insurance middlemen).
The path to get there is obvious, but politically quite impossible in the US (and only in the US, since every other country has it figured out.)