[Darus Grey]

The solution to most the above problems is greater fiscal responsability on the part of consumers(patients).

People use insurance as a crutch for thier own inability to manage thier money, this causes massive bloating in the system.
We could all live without insurance , afterall its a for profit business, you put more money into the system over a lifetime then you get out of it.

I simply pay my medical costs out of pocket, over the 7 years I've done it, I've saved about $27,000, my actual medical expenses during that time have been a whopping $1200

If your dellusioned into thinking you absolutley must have insurance then be smarter about it, pay for things like checkups, etc out of pocket, and take out a policy that only covers expensives greater then $40,000 with a $20,000 deductible or similar, your payments will be stupidly low in the off chance you get an extreme injury and don't forsee it as being possible to have saved $40,000+ in cash.

Also haggle(for lack of a better word) with your doctor, in my experience its easy to get a "discount" by as much as 50% if you tell them you can pay right now in full, in cash.
Many doctors/hospitals love the idea of not having to deal with an insurance company(and the risk of getting coverage declined).

So..my solution to the bloated system is..to get rid of the system, or at least use it in a smart way.
We can certainly operate without it, the key is better fiscal planning to save as consumers and to not bloat the system up.


PS: as to the above post..I agree...I can proudly say I've never taken any medication (especially antibiotics..YUCK) my lifetime outside that which was administered to me as a child.
I Havn't gotten sick in 5 years, my family/friends often get sick 4 or 5 times a year, and I just shrug it off because I actually give my body a chance to build immunity to a virus, not frickin gimp myself over with a "fast" solution.