Thoughts on Insurance
I've always wondered about US health insurance -- why can't the physician give me quotes about my personal obligation for various treatment options?  It's frustrating that as soon as it's time to come up with a bill, poof there it is but prior to the bill being generated all I get is shrugs?<p>Is it because the insurance coverage algorithms are too complicated?  Because the different entities involved in a single treatment plan is too complicated to navigate?  Because physicians feel that cost is orthogonal to medicine and they prefer not to be involved/prefer to recommend the ideal treatment based on a predicted outcome?  All of the above?<p>It feels like if there were a particular hospital group / physician group that had this feature, they would attract a lot of attention.  Just imagine, "Your initial differential diagnosis will not exceed $150 and we'll discuss treatment options or more conclusive diagnostic tests afterwards."<p>All I've heard so far are physicians who don't accept insurance but instead have a straightforward "menu" for common items, which is interesting but not what I think most people want.