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Free market healthcare means it gets cheaper. Go pay cash at a doctor or a surgeon — it’s dramatically less expensive. The idea of comprehensive health insurance has ruined healthcare. Insurance should be to protect against financial risk from an unforeseen loss — a car crash should be insured, changing the oil should not. If car insurance covered tires and oil changes, car insurance would cost dramatically more.

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That's great if all you ever need to do is see a doctor, full stop. Getting, for example, an MRI is around $2k out of pocket. Just for one imaging! Most Americans can't come up with $500 for an unexpected expense. Comprehensive health insurance protects people from instantly going broke from everything in health care that isn't just seeing a primary care doctor.

edit: Not defending insurers or our system at all, btw. Quite clear to me as ex-healthtech that a single payer system would solve many of our problems.

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