So one problem you end up with is people that won't go to the doctor for preventative care or before issues become worse (and thus more expensive to fix) to save money now.
It's why the ACA specifically says preventive care, immunizations, medical screenings, etc. cannot be subject to copay or deductible or coinsurance.[1]
I’ve had the same thought, but keep it private. Mandate everyone is on a high deductible plan with government support to make the deductibles lower for the truly poor.
Make health insurance actual insurance again - instead of health plans.
It’s the same basic idea but a little less vulnerable to the whims of politics. Of course, your idea is more palatable for democrats (though not very) and mine is more palatable for republicans, meaning neither will happen.
Also, tie drug prices to the prices other countries pay damnit. The only reason something so obvious hasn’t happened can only be because of lobbying.
You pay 100% up to deductible (out of pre-tax HSA), government insurance covers everything after that.
It would be interesting to see how many people stay under the deductible, and not cost the government program anything. Along with publicly posting prices for most services, so people can spend their deductible most efficiently.
This isn't very well thought through. But I'm trying to imagine a system that combines market forces for everyday health care expenses, paired with government health insurance for the truly massive expenses of traumatic health events.