Consumer Driven Health Care

An article from the Chicago Tribune points to consumer driven health care plans in the fight against rising health care costs.

Steve Troc, director of human resources at Communications Supply Corp. in Carol Stream, said moving to a consumer-driven plan with a high-deductible has made him stop to think more before heading to the doctor.

"I want to make 100 percent sure we stay in network," he said. "For any aches or pains, we're not just running to the ER, for example."

That philosophy should pay off in savings over time, said David Levitz, executive vice president of GCG. "If you can head off 30 percent of claims, you're making progress," he said.

"We are finding in between 30 percent and 40 percent of cases, just the savings in premiums alone result in enough of a reason to do a high-deductible health plan," Levitz said.

Currently, about 26 percent of midsize Chicago-area employers surveyed offer a consumer-driven health plan, and 27 percent are considering offering one next year, according to the GCG survey.

I understand the attractiveness of a health insurance plan that pays it all, or at least has low deductibles.

But we can't have our cake and eat it too. Having everything for nothing is just a socialist dream we've been sold. And like all things with socialism, it's a highway of bankrupt philosophy paved with broken promises.

We'll never get health care spending under control until we get the individual back as the health care consumer, not government and insurance companies.

HT to the National Center for Policy Analysis.