If you're unable to discern whether your doctor's preferred solution is the best one, then what is the purpose of asking your doctor in the first place? Or how would it be beneficial if the "worst" provider was forced to charge you the same as the best provider?
If I was qualified to discern if my doc's preferred solution was the best one, I'd be a doctor. I ask my doctor because he's been specifically trained to make that determination.
> Or how would it be beneficial if the "worst" provider was forced to charge you the same as the best provider?
You've got that backwards. Right now, we basically allow the worst provider to charge as much as the best one, because we don't really have any way to differentiate the best from the worst. There's no need to force any business to charge more.
TIL there's no testing, rating, or regulating in the medical industry.
>I ask my doctor because he's been specifically trained to make that determination.
I agree, so this concern of yours is alleviated. The market provided you an expensive option which is the one your trusted advisor recommends, and there's a cheaper one which may offer lower quality service. You are now empowered to make your own decision on the matter.
>You've got that backwards. Right now, we basically allow the worst provider to charge as much as the best one, because we don't really have any way to differentiate the best from the worst. There's no need to force any business to charge more.
Moving to single payer does not help you differentiate the best from the worst. All it does is force the good provider and the bad provider to charge the same. The current insurance regime is not better, because your provider can choose the worse provider for you if they're cheaper, leaving you no option at all.
I can't believe we're going with car analogies here. HN is now the Slashdot of yore.
I do hope you realize that people use fundamentally different methods of choosing things in life depending on the importance and consequences of that choice, and hence asking about how one chooses cars doesn't apply to choosing a healthcare provider.
Unless you are, in fact, a robot, in which case I welcome our new, ah nevermind.
There is no magic here just because healthcare is more important than car choice. You're no more or less safe because you're paying out of pocket. It's not as if paying out of pocket means you're going to be getting healthcare from Joe the crackhead in the back alley. It will still be doctors, NPs, etc. all licensed in your state.
You can speak for yourself. I bought my Honda Fit because I saw a video ad on Youtube.
Worked for me, I love the thing. And if I didn't? No biggie, would have sold it off on Craigslist and bought something else.
Would I select a doctor based on an ad? No, no, and no. Which is my point, actually.
With healthcare, it's not just about "what's the cheapest option", it's also "who will deliver the best service"... given the relatively limited ability to optimize the first, I generally will focus on the second, and I think that's what most folks do - they go with providers they trust.
It all comes back to my original point: healthcare, particularly non-elective healthcare, is not well-suited to a free market solution.