Medpundit has an interesting post on a couple of physicians who ditched dealing with insurance companies. Instead, they expect patients to pay and file with the insurance companies themselves. After a six month shaking-out period, it seems that they are now happy little docs.

That's the route I'd go, if that were my profession - it sure looks to me that having to deal with insurance bureaucracies would suck the joy right out of practicing medicine. From the patient side, this enrollment period we're wondering seriously if there's a way to go retro: that is, purchase "major medical" and cover other medical expenses the old-fashioned way (you know, just pay for them). Something's got to give - there's no way around the fact that modern medicine is expensive, but the endless tormenting layers of administrators, PPO gatekeepers, etc., etc., has got to be driving costs up (as well as damaging the purchasers' mental health).

(Apropos of insurance, and since I just mentioned Jim Henley below, I recall he recently had good post on the history and problems of the employer-based insurance model.)

Posted by Moira Breen at September 26, 2003 01:04 PM