Today, when I m sick I immediately call my physician. The Mount and I pay a lot of money for my health insurance. I might as use it. Now my physician also knows that I have insurance and knows that he can set his fee without effecting my decision to come to his office or not. The hospital knows it.
Pharmaceutical companies know it.
Unfortunately, private insurance companies and HMOs have not been able to keep up with this resulting ever-rising cost. Therefore, they must either raise their rates or reduce coverage. Of course, if you get your health care through programs like Medicare or Medicaid you don t worry at all about how much the government pays for your treatment. You would be more concerned with what that program doesn t pay for, and therefore, what you would have to pay. Medicare, for example, does not cover most pharmaceuticals and therefore senior citizens pay for most of their drugs out of pocket.