the so-called “endowment effect”: the mere fact that you own something leads you to overvalue it.The end result is for people who already have health insurance they tend to wish to keep their status no matter how flawed the system.
More strikingly, talk of changing the system may actually accentuate the endowment effect.So in effect the more we discuss the possibility of change the more resistant some people may become to any such idea.
The issue of cost cutting becomes an inordinate problem for many.
The problem is that once you start talking about cost-cutting you make people think about what they might have to give up. And that makes them value what they have more highly.And resistance to reform builds.
What we may need to accomplish as progressives interested in real reform is modify the message.
Changing the system so that individuals can get affordable health care, while banning bad behavior on the part of insurance companies, will actually make it more likely, not less, that people will get to preserve their current level of coverage. The message, in other words, should be: if we want to protect the status quo, we need to reform it.
Time to get to work. Healthcare reform is necessary. We have no time to wait.
Peace.
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2 comments:
Many people mistakenly think they have insurance because their insurance is employer subsidized and they pay premiums.
Little do they realize that if they have an illness that impairs their ability to work, their employer can dismiss them "at will", leaving them at the mercy of the "free" market. Only when unable to obtain coverage for the pre-existing condition, is it evident how uninsured they are.
And even worse, much of that employer provided insurance will not cover all the expenses of a serious illness. Too many fail to recognize the seriousness of this mess until, like you say, they find themselves in need.
Peace, Jerry
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