> The entire point of the insurance business model is to avoid paying for [human well-being] as much as possible
For-profit health insurance. Which imho should be illegal.
A lot of the US' quasi free-market, in-name-only health insurance problems would be solved by:
1. Requiring all insurers to be not-for-profit (critically: also including all corporate owners of insurers too)
2. Tying financial incentives and disincentives to outcome-based KPIs
Big problem here: You get more KPI, not better outcomes. Things like no doctor being willing to risk working a high risk patient.
We have already seen it with things like Medicare Advantage plans doing sign-up meetings on the second floor of buildings without elevators etc.
Medicare Advantage is a clusterfuck from start to finish (denying more claims than Medicare while also costing taxpayers more), precisely because it tries to micro-manage KPIs.
If you want to look at them done correctly, look at the FEP program. High-level KPIs that are difficult to game (without actually improving service & outcomes) tied to financial incentivizes.
Does "not for profit" actually solve anything? Aren't most private universities also not-for-profit, while also being major real estate owners, developers, managing massive investment portfolios, etc?
In my experience Kaiser / the Blues have their issues (mostly inefficiency), but not nearly as many directly anti-patient incentives as United Healthcare et al.
Generally speaking, you get decent outcomes with {not for profit} + {efficiency/outcome based KPI}, because the primary thing you're fighting is apathy (not for profit) instead of malicious profiteering (for profit).
And capitalism doesn't particular lend itself to running an insurance company. Fundamentally, there's not that much that should change year-to-year at insurers than {actuaries / pricing}.
Have pharmacy benefits or all the other kooky for-profit inventions really improved patient experience and outcomes?