I would get rid of insurance altogether other than a catstrophic plan sort of like homeowners insurance. Everything else you pay out of pocket. Prices would come down a lot. Same for price transparency. Most people have no need for all the mandatory shit failbamacare forces people to carry.
Yours are the thoughts of a young person. When I was in my 20's and 30's I couldn't have cared less about health insurance. Homeowner's insurance is available with varying deductibles and coverage options. For example, I pay extra for earthquake insurance (which is no longer offered by my insurer). If I remember correctly, I have a $10,000 deductible. Some medical insurance plans offered have modest deductibles and some have fairly high deductibles. My Medicare advantage plan currently has a in network max out of pocket of 6,700.
Older folks are more likely to have chronic or acute conditions, such as kidney and heart failure. People with catastrophic health issues are a losing proposition for Heath care insurance providers. Insuring healthy low risk people is the only way medical insurgence companies can survive. They could raise premiums on people with chronic conditions. But if they did, most of those people would not have the funds to pay exorbitant premiums because they are frequently living on a lower fixed income because they are either old or disabled.
Your plan would work, if the rest of us were willing to let these folks die rather than treating their life threatening conditions. I'm not sure most people would be on board with this idea yet.
The medication which cures hepatitis C, a chronic and eventually acute illness, is not affordable for most people: Harvoni's total treatment cost is $94,500 for a 12-week regimen. Hep C is a blood born pathogen and as such, it is highly contagious.The hepatitis C virus can survive outside of the body for up to 3 weeks. However, it can only do so at room temperature on clinical or household surfaces, such as a drawer handle or sink. In almost all cases, hepatitis C is spread through contact with infected blood. Approximately 3.5 million people in the United States are living with chronic HCV (hepatitis C virus).
