New Hampshire Take Note: The Path to Healthcare Freedom is Shorter Than You Think - Granite Grok

New Hampshire Take Note: The Path to Healthcare Freedom is Shorter Than You Think

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New Hampshire used to be ‘owned’ by railroads, or so the story goes. These days it’s the hospital/insurance cartels. Their influence shapes policy in Concord and buys votes from elected officials and even officeholders whose eyes wander toward DC.

Money talks and the Cartel’s got a lot of it.

But Iowa and Florida just put new laws in force that creates options for doctors and patients looking to put the free market to work on health care costs, and New Hampshire should take a look.

Both states have passed laws that clarify direct primary care agreements between doctors and patients. The Tenth Amendment Center reports that,

These new laws specify that direct primary care agreements (sometimes called medical retainer agreements) do not constitute insurance, thereby freeing doctors and patients from the onerous requirements and regulations under state insurance codes. Both laws also include provisions defining direct primary care agreements and establishing modest requirements.

An excerpt from the Michigan Capitol Confidential adds that,

“Under medical retainer agreements, patients make monthly payments to a physician who in return agrees to provide a menu of routine services at no extra charge. Because no insurance company stands between patient and doctor, the hassles and expense of bureaucratic red tape are eliminated, which have resulted in dramatic cost reductions. Routine primary care services (and the bureaucracy required to reimburse them) are estimated to consume 40 cents out of every dollar spent on insurance policies, so lower premiums for a given amount of coverage are another potential benefit.”

I’d expect that in some instances the savings might be greater. Any number of minor procedures from a few stitches to setting a simple fracture involves minimal time and material. And there are doctors who already offer these services for a fraction of the industry cartel cost. Protecting them from lawsuits or challenges by the various players would go a long way to encouraging more of this, to the benefit of any who feel they can take advantage.

A medical retainer agreement coupled with a low-cost catastrophic coverage plan (or without it) could provide a safety net at minimal cost to patients and encourage competition in the healthcare market.

No, I’m not holding my breath, but I am encouraged by the signs of life provided by states willing to back off and let markets do what they do best. Give people looking for a product or service the common courtesy of knowing more about what they want or need than a bunch of legislators, lawyers, and lobbyists.

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