Reddit mentions: The best insurance books

LOL, I'm not having trouble following anything; I know what I'm talking about, a position you must rarely find yourself in. Fewer regulations would lead to lower costs and more access. Look up CON laws, to start. Why can hospitals block other companies from opening competing services? Why should you have to see a doctor for every little thing, or to get any kind of medicine? PAs and NPs, etc., are cheaper. Why shouldn't you be able to form risk pools with whomever you want, or be able to buy a la carte style health insurance or alternative insurance plans? What if you could subscribe to a doctor group instead of buying insurance and still having to pay for all but the most serious of healthcare needs? Complying with insurance company and government paperwork costs doctors a lot in time and money when they have to hire people to take care of it, which in turn drives up costs for patients, and doesn't go away just because patient money is routed through the government first. This is all just a sampling of the surface scratchings of the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

Teddy Roosevelt had a lot of bad ideas, so I don't know why you're invoking him.

And you ignore that the little amount of market forces we actually have in the healthcare sector in this country have led to more than half the world's medical patents being filed in the US, the best health outcomes overall, the most advanced healthcare equipment and greatest access to it, the best patient monitoring equipment and services, as well as the highest rated patient service. Not to mention the freedom to choose our own care plan rather than having it dictated to us.

You also might be surprised to find that universal coverage in other nations rarely means single payer.

You should try doing some research rather than just going with what feels right to you. Maybe read some varying sources from actual economists or historians

I think even if you think that every person should be able to hold other individuals in society hostage in order to extract health care from them (read: you think health care is a positive "right"), I would submit to you that socialized medicine (which is where we are heading) is incapable of giving everyone health care to a satisfactory degree.
One source that does an in-depth examination is the following book Lives at Risk: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lives_at_Risk http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Risk-Single-Payer-National-Insurance/dp/0742541525
I predict that over the next 30 years or so, we will see the breakdown of certain single-payer systems for the same reasons as the Soviet Union fell apart (economic reasons: http://mises.org/story/3543). There is no functioning price mechanism, and eventually there aren't any more resources to be wasted.
Already, nations with government-run health care are liberalizing their medicine:
"The authors explain that most European countries with a national health care system have introduced market based reforms and relied on the private sector to reduce costs and increase the availability and effectiveness of health care. Some examples include the NHS has begun treating patients in private hospitals and contracting with private health care providers the Canadian health care system spends over a billion dollars annually on U.S. medical care Sweden has introduced reforms to allow more than forty percent of all heal care services to be delivered privately" - Lives at Risk

Hello!

A few of my family members use concierge medical practices, and it has been truly life changing for them. For example, my mom recently signed up for one. She has several chronic conditions, including a deadly peanut allergy. She came back from the appointment and said "Hmm! I guess I should get an Epipen. I've always carried around Benadryl , because I thought Benadryl and Epipens were the same thing." She's a brilliant lawyer, but no one had ever explained the difference between these two allergy treatments to her, so she didn't know. It isn't that she lacked the capacity to understand the difference, it's just that no doctor ever told her. Her doctor also found that 3 of her prescriptions had lapsed, and she just stopped taking them because "she felt okay." To me, this exemplifies the power of concierge medicine- doctors have the time to sit down and really dig through a patient's medical history, and work with them to fill in both medical and educational lapses. My mom said that she felt like a partner in her health care management, as opposed to a passive bystander. It's definitely worth looking into and I'm glad you're interested in it.

I couldn't find any books specifically for medical students, but I found a few books on Amazon that might be a good start (I haven't read any of them but they are highly (albeit limitedly) reviewed):

• https://www.amazon.com/Concierge-Medicine-System-Best-Healthcare/dp/1442207086
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Doctors-Guide-Concierge-Medicine-Considering-ebook/dp/B00TM7A3AO
  
  Not specifically about concierge medicine, but books that offer perspectives on changing healthcare models:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Patient-Will-See-You-Now/dp/0465054749/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0465054749&pd_rd_r=V9GJ7V4PYD6060BY00TW&pd_rd_w=1yzmg&pd_rd_wg=dsl8I&psc=1&refRID=V9GJ7V4PYD6060BY00TW
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/The-Creative-Destruction-of-Medicine-How-the-Digital-Revolution-Will-Create-Better-Health-Care/dp/0465061834/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Healthcare-Disrupted-Generation-Business-Strategies/dp/1119171881/ref=pd_sim_14_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1119171881&pd_rd_r=36ES9DJQGW5J8GM54JR2&pd_rd_w=mZaBC&pd_rd_wg=LKCW3&psc=1&refRID=36ES9DJQGW5J8GM54JR2
  
  Take care!

I haven't read Wasserman, but I briefly looked at the Amazon preview of it. Usually this is a good starting place for intermediate-level mathematical stats, but if the notation seems very daunting, I would recommend an actuarial text on probability to get you started (these usually avoid the plethora of notation) before you pursue mathematical stats. The two I recommend are Probability for Risk Management and Probability and Statistics with Applications: A Problem-Solving Text (my personal favorite, plus this one also covers the stats). Get your hands on the errata (do a Google search) and the solutions manuals as well. Best of luck!

Actually, I am pretty sure what they spend the majority of their profits on is lobbying and not their executives and R&D. They also spend a good deal of money courting physicians to promote their medications.


(http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33010-how-much-of-big-pharma-s-massive-profits-are-used-to-influence-politicians)

(https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/09/18/20203/pharma-lobbying-held-deep-influence-over-opioid-policies)

Furthermore, most of the ground level R&D that is done in America regarding new drugs is from the National Institute of Health. Then pharma companies pick it up and do further research on it. And its not actual R&D to get the same drug approved with a new coating on it just to keep a patent stranglehold on the drug. This practice doesn't save lives or help patients, it keeps them from getting affordable generics.


Read a book called An American Sickness by Elizabeth Rosenthal. It is truly excellent at explaining how our healthcare system is failing for the general population and touches on many aspects, not just pharmaceutical. Basically, it is the counterargument to your hypothesis about increasing drug prices. (https://www.amazon.com/American-Sickness-Healthcare-Became-Business/dp/1594206759)

edit: had to go to grammar school

To some degree, but largely they still pass on healthcare costs to everyone very efficiently.

It's been a while since I read up on it, but essentially the entire system revolves around a very robust HSA system where you pay for everything in cash, but either you or the government contributes to a private account to pay for it (based on income, need, etc). Then the government can put up public hospitals, but they still largely have to compete on price with private institutions as well (since people are ultimately paying with their own money).

Ultimately I feel like it would be a lot easier to implement in the US. You can start small. It preserves consumer choice. It can be implemented at a state level. And it will help combat costs (by making prices more important).

You may want to check out "Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care: The Inside Story of a Century-Long Battle" for a book that's specifically focused on the policy history of universal healthcare in America.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Politics-Universal-Health-Care/dp/1616144564/ref=pd_sim_14_15?ie=UTF8&dpID=51CsYFn-XEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=1RQEWFDZDX8NWF0Z57ZK

Less focused on universal healthcare, but apparently quite good, is Steven Brill's "America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System." Brill is an investigative journalist, and this book focuses more generally on the inefficiencies of the current healthcare system.

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Bitter-Pill-Politics-Healthcare/dp/0812986687/ref=pd_sim_14_9?ie=UTF8&dpID=51uH46vVCTL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=1X5JG9768071Y4Y0JAAK

Again, not really focused entirely on universal healthcare, but an MIT economist put together a great comic about modern health care policy in American which might help provide a really good basic understanding of the issues surround universal healthcare.

http://slice.mit.edu/2012/02/28/in-a-comic-book-health-care-reform-explained/

I don't have any sources besides my own knowledge from having taken classes in college and Martin's own videos.

If you would like to learn a bit more about it, this is an amazing book (if you like reading, are interested at all in the subject, or just have some free time)

Martin actually has people join his stream every now and then and explains to them how the industry actually works, very thoroughly too.

Here are some videos on the subject, if you're interested:

1 2 3 He tries to be rather civil in these (even though his guests that he's debating with and attempting to educate typically are not - nor are his "Friends" or whoever those people are in the stream) so it's not a bad watch if you've got some time, it's pretty educating actually.

And if you've heard about the recent EpiPen price increase, here's his take on it here , again, really educational.

I don't work for a pharma or insurance company, so I don't know every detail, I've only taken some college classes my field is more in economics and finance, but I can answer SOME questions if you have any.

You're overestimating how terrible Single Payer will be for physicians financially. Explaining why will take a lot of background info, but suffice it to say that the $$$ for how expensive healthcare currently is goes to hospitals and insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. The average doctor won't be affected as much as you might think.

For more info on what I mean, there's a great book you should read:
An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal. She's a Harvard-educated MD who is currently the editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News and her book is, in my opinion, the best (and most unbiased) around for understanding the state of the US healthcare system.

The definitive book on this topic is:

Ensuring America's Health: The Public Creation of the Corporate Health Care System

Basically health care was on its way to becoming a functioning free market until government and industry protectionists colluded.

Well this book comes highly praised. Whether the praise is merited, you'll have to investigate.

Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach by Thomas Bodenheimer and Kevin Grumbach

This is a great, easy-to-read book that has a lot of real-world examples. Bodenheimer is the person who coined the "Quadruple Aim."

If you want to do a deeper dive into health insurance, Health Insurance by Michael Morrisey is a great resource!

thanks I appreciate it. This is something way outside of my comfort zone so these all may not be dead ringers but I am at least giving you options. Also I am trying to stay within you limit but some may go over slightly so my apologies for that. Book 1, Book 2,Book 3,Book 4,Book 5. Let me know if any of these work

Read this book: your bank may require it as reading if you get the job anyways (CFA institute publication on RM). Book is free!!! and actually very interesting. Also it's not a terribly tough read.

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Risk-Management-ebook/dp/B005EZIJ22/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414453543&sr=1-1&keywords=a+practical+guide+to+risk+management

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
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Put simply, with Obamacare we’ve changed the rules related to who pays for what, but we haven’t done much to change the prices we pay. When you follow the money, you see the choices we’ve made, knowingly or unknowingly.
Over the past few decades, we’ve enriched the labs, drug companies, medical device makers, hospital administrators and purveyors of CT scans, MRIs, canes and wheelchairs. Meanwhile, we’ve squeezed the doctors who don’t own their own clinics, don’t work as drug or device consultants or don’t otherwise game a system that is so gameable. And of course, we’ve squeezed everyone outside the system who gets stuck with the bills. We’ve created a secure, prosperous island in an economy that is suffering under the weight of the riches those on the island extract. And we’ve allowed those on the island and their lobbyists and allies to control the debate, diverting us from what Gerard Anderson, a health care economist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says is the obvious and only issue: “All the prices are too damn high.”

• Steven Brill, excerpt from "Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us"
  
  Great book about it as well.

Overcharged: Why Americans Pay... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944424768?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

US healthcare is uber expensive because of our crony government’s imposed will and authority into healthcare; not because government hasn’t taken enough control...

Monopolistic, exuberant and large “non-profit” hospital systems have also cornered the healthcare market limiting our supply and access to many health related services as a result. Also, the board members and CEOs of these “non-profit” healthcare systems do not live anything closely resembling humble or minimalist lifestyles; they still drive 6 figure cars, live in half-million to multi-million dollar mansions, but personally do absolutely nothing to improve the health of anyone while still holding onto the false altruism title of “non-profit” CEO, board member, etc.

There is nothing inherently vicious about profit other than the emotionally based propaganda that you fell victim to. If you’re complaint is towards “excessive” profits, then you’re dissatisfaction should be focused towards the bureaucracy that prevents competition from eliminating excessive profits, rather than a rent-seeking tax exemption status.

I thought of similar ideas. Then I got recommended this youtube channel (see about 4:55 in the linked video) where a doctor who is a Vice Chair for Health Policy and Outcomes Research and writes for the New York Times talked about how the "state lines" thing is more of a myth. He's generally quite balanced when it comes to either side's ideas for healthcare reform (each has its own tradeoffs). https://youtu.be/6tlMALdsZ28?t=4m55s

Unfortunately, insurance companies already can sell across state lines. It just doesn't work out very well. With no regulatory boundaries, insurance sets up shop in the state with the fewest regulations and sells nationally with no real competition that would make things less crap (this happened with the credit card industry).

Networks are also setup locally due to time/money of making new ones far away, so having insurance in a different state is basically useless (which may happen to me if I stop being unemployed by getting a job in another state soon). [A couple of states tried to do this. NOT A SINGLE out of state insurer took their offer] (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/upshot/the-problem-with-gop-plans-to-sell-health-insurance-across-state-lines.html?_r=0).

Regarding rawrbunny, a large part of the problems seen in states like Texas (where I grew up) are caused by not accepting the medicaid expansion. By having Republicans reject the funding, they can then create their proof that Obamacare is more crap than it is (thanks Lieberman, for not letting us get a public option in exchange for your last crucial vote).

A side note - there's also a weird system in the US that ties healthcare to employment (not self-employment though), since healthcare benefits aren't taxed. It encourages rates to go up because no one is really paying for them. [For more info, check out Planet Money's podcast on it here. The section starts about 9 minutes in. It's fascinating stuff.] (http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/10/26/499490275/episode-387-the-no-brainer-economic-platform)

If you want to read more on how things got so bad, I'd highly recommend [An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business.] (https://www.amazon.com/American-Sickness-Healthcare-Became-Business/dp/1594206759/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496388629&sr=1-1&keywords=an+american+sickness) It's also SUPER interesting, and even includes ways for people to save money through resources that try and make things more transparent.

As you may notice, I've been doing a decent amount of reading/research since the healthcare debate started up again. That, and the price of a fucking 15-minute CT scan (with insurance) varied MORE THAN $700 depending on which place I got it from when I was sick a while back. A good wake up call.

Is your response rooted in the belief that private health insurance is the sole reason for high cost of care? If so, please join me in reading An American Sickness. I'm reading it now and I'm learning that private health insurance doesn't nearly hold all the blame and it seems Bernie and others have been using them as some sort of scapegoat.

The reason behind high costs of healthcare falls on hospitals profiting, doctors incentivized to recommend expensive care, and regulations behind drug research that drive up those costs.

Edit: Insurance is also a factor. But it's a small part of the whole equation.

As someone who is fighting for single-payer and researching how best to achieve it in America, I HIGHLY recommend listening to this interview with Steven Brill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A5OkvPjW0w. Steven Brill is the Author of the book, America's Bitter Pill: http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Bitter-Pill-Politics-Healthcare/dp/0812986687/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451210689&sr=8-1&keywords=steven+brill.

https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Bitter-Pill-Politics-Healthcare/dp/0812986687

Probably one of the better investigatory pieces written about the pre-ACA distribution problems in healthcare delivery.

Attul Gawande is another good author on the subject.

David Goldhill, a Democrat and the CEO of the Gameshow Network, has some of the better writing on the adverse incentives that have so screwed up medical economics-

https://www.amazon.com/American-Health-Kindle-Single-Vintage-ebook/dp/B01L80BKG8/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501191669&sr=1-3

https://www.amazon.com/Catastrophic-Care-Everything-Think-Health/dp/034580273X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501191669&sr=1-1

I searched for "Steven Brill" "Bitter Pill" and found this pdf which I think may be the first article he wrote for Time.

Edit: the link is https://www.uta.edu/faculty/story/2311/Misc/2013,2,26,MedicalCostsDemandAndGreed.pdf

He did a follow up article and a book which goes into great detail of the whole process by which we got the ACA. Here's the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Bitter-Pill-Politics-Healthcare/dp/0812986687

Thank you for this. You should also check out "An American Sickness" by Elisabeth Rosenthal. https://www.amazon.com/American-Sickness-Healthcare-Became-Business/dp/1594206759 I've been looking for some new stuff to read because it's so hard to get any non partisan information on the subject.

>Half the time, they just take two existing drugs and combine em.

You (every American really) should read "An American Sickness" by Elisabeth Rosenthal. She talks about this exact practice that pharmaceutical companies engage in. Taking an old generic med that works well, combining it or making it extend release, and skyrocketing the price up 300% or more. It's a sickening practice and if I had no moral compass and wanted to make bank, I'd jump at the opportunity too. Such a lucrative industry, pharmaceuticals.

She also dedicates chapters on critiquing insurance companies, "non-profit" hospitals (lol), physicians, and biomedical manufacturing companies.

There are many solutions out there, and much more in depth that can be explained in a single reddit comment, I will link you to some reading material.

https://mises.org/library/four-step-healthcare-solution

http://www.libertarianism.org/media/free-thoughts/better-choice-healthcare-solutions-america

https://www.amazon.com/Better-Choice-Healthcare-Solutions-Independent/dp/1598132083/

https://www.amazon.com/Priceless-Healthcare-Independent-Studies-Political/dp/1598130838/

https://www.amazon.com/Patient-Power-Free-Enterprise-Alternative-Clintons/dp/1882577108/

See my post below regarding the price, also read:
http://www.amazon.com/Catastrophic-Care-Everything-Think-Health/dp/034580273X

Don't worry, it was written by a leftie.

https://www.amazon.com/SuperTutor-Property-Casualty-Exam-Prep-ebook/dp/B01HAQ75NQ

This is what I used but there is no Oregon edition it looks like

It could very well be Navy/miltary inspired, but I only know of it from the FAA side of things, specifically FAA Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2) - (Amazon Link).

https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Biomedical-Ethics-Beauchamp/dp/0199924589

https://www.amazon.com/American-Sickness-Healthcare-Became-Business/dp/1594206759/ref=sr_1_1?crid=12GOKZ3DTRX3W&keywords=an+american+sickness+by+elisabeth+rosenthal&qid=1550980133&s=books&sprefix=an+american+sic%2Cstripbooks%2C151&sr=1-1

The result of Medicare and Medicaid has already been the opposite.

Give this a read - it's a book that lays out the reasons for the higher prices in American healthcare, written by two law professors.

Healthcare.

An American Sickness:
https://www.amazon.com/American-Sickness-Healthcare-Became-Business/dp/1594206759

Probably the biggest eye-opener I've ever read.

Singapore. And according to what I've read it performs very well.

If anyone wants to dig deeper into this read the book An American Sickness. It talks about healthcare in America and yes it will make you sick. Amazon Link to Book

Google gives me this: https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Bitter-Pill-Politics-Healthcare/dp/0812986687/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474208034&sr=8-1&keywords=america%27s+bitter+pill

and this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/034580273X/ref=pd_cp_14_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NDKFN5HYEA1W4EBTVRNH

While they do talk about obamacare, they don't look like particularly partisan books, at least at first glance.

A big driver of the clusterfuck is 50 different standards because "muh states rights". I recommend Steven Brill's America's Bitter Pill if you're interested in learning more, but prepare to be infuriated.

Saw this in the airport the other day and picked it up...Fairly quick read and relevant to this thread. I've been raked over the coals with two kids in three years and was getting tired of not understanding what the hell is going on in healthcare.

An American Sickness