At 5:58 PM 8/19/96 -0700, Rich Graves wrote:

On Mon, 19 Aug 1996, Bill Frantz wrote:

...

Perhaps, within our current social order, medical savings plans are the best option on the table.

What alternative social orders can you envision that would handle this problem elegantly? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Well, under Cryptoanarchy the whole problem disappears. Your medical records are handled as per your contract with your doctor. There are no 3rd party payers who have a stake. With no taxes, the deduction for medical savings plans disappears and with it the principle reason for them. (People would still need to save for medical costs.)

Medical savings plans do not work for anyone but the extremely rich and healthy, because few normal people can self-insure to cover the risk.

The risk of catastrophic illness is indeed significant, but statistically rare. If we assume people will insure for it, and insurance companies still have access to the records of the care they pay for, then we are still better off than we are today with all care being paid by insurance companies. In this scenario, routine medical care is being paid by the patient, and the records can be private between the patient and the doctor. This kind of system would prevent the general availability of information such as whether a patient had a vasectomy. Note that in the general case, people are healthy in their youth, and can build up savings for when health problems develop with age. TANSTAAFL. On the average, everyone has to pay the cost of their medical care.

There's also the little matter of letting your doctor know your medical history.

I have no problem letting my doctor know my medical history protected by doctor-patient confidentiality. It's the insurance company/human resources department/government access I worry about. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | Cave ab homine unius lebri | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | [Beware the man of one | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com | book] - Anonymous Latin | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA