Why private health insurance gives you better quality care than public or free health insurnace

Question

For instance why is that someone on say Kaiser for example tends to get appointments faster and at (usually) way nicer facilities in nicer parts of town than say somebody on Medi Cal

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Answer 1

Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid system.

On Medi-Cal you get to choose different providers and networks. In many parts of California, people on Medi-Cal can choose Kaiser.

When you pay someone, you get leverage over them. If you have an employee, you can scold them for being late. If someone volunteers, you have to be thankful because they don’t need you and can leave whenever they want.

Private providers want your money, so they give you nice stuff. In communist countries, people often weren’t able to get good things and didn’t have that much choice because the government was paying for it.

If you pay cash, you can get the best healthcare. If you have insurance, now the insurance has leverage and has to approve/deny services.

With EPO or PPO insurance, you get some leverage over the provider because they get paid by your insurance for what they do. As a result these doctors want to do more for you which can be good or bad.

With HMO insurance, the doctor usually receives a salary. They want to get you done and over with as soon as possible. This can also be good or bad.

With HMO – if you need a refill on your diabetes – you can easily get it done and over with a phone call, email, etc. If your knee hurts, good luck getting a referral for a knee specialist or getting an MRI.

Kaiser claims their good, because they’ll be done with you in the fewest visits. However for big issues, this might be too rushed.

With PPO/EPO – if you need a refill, they might ask if you stop by their office. If your knee hurts, your doctor will gladly refer you to a knee specialist, the specialist might refer you for an MRI and for physical therapy.

These are good because they care more and want to do more for you. But it’s also bad, because more visits can be inconvenient. However if your knee hurts, you could go straight to the knee specialist without a referral. Whatever issue you have, you could go straight to the right doctor.