Co-Dependency

According to the Congressional Budget Office American's are becoming increasingly co-dependent and less self reliant. It seems that, over the last 30 years at least, we have completely lost touch with reality.

We have been conditioned to think in terms of copays rather than actual costs of health care and we are paying dearly for that dependence.

We are willing to shift the responsibility for paying health care providers to the carrier.

Another important factor that both reflects and has contributed to rising health costs is the declining proportion of those costs that are paid out of pocket. Out-of-pocket payments accounted for 33 percent of all personal health care expenditures in 1975, but by 2005, that share had fallen to 15 percent

Thirty years ago individuals paid 33% of their health care needs out of pocket.

Today it is 15% and continuing to drop.

This co-dependence has got to stop. Relying on the carriers to "pay for" primary care is not going to solve anything and will only continue to make things worse.

rising health care costs (as a share of income) have probably led individuals to seek more extensive insurance in order to keep the variability of their out-of-pocket expenses from increasing.

In other words, when someone else pays demand for services increases.

Wonder where I have heard that before?