Last week, Ezra Klein argued that Americans with individual market health insurance are more dissatisfied with their plans because the insurance “doesn’t cover them when it’s most necessary.” Barro counters:
I suspect the higher levels of dissatisfaction come from a different source, one that has different policy implications: Unlike people on Medicare, Medicaid and employer-based insurance, people who buy coverage in the individual market know exactly how much they’re paying for it. A plan that you would only rate “fair” when you have to pay $5,000 for it might merit an “excellent” if its apparent cost to you were only $1,000.
Almost all of us should be dissatisfied with our health plans, because the American health care system involves paying twice as much as people in other rich countries do to achieve similar health outcomes. People who buy in the individual market are especially likely to understand how expensive American health care is.
It’s worth remembering that private healthcare in the US is one of the most inefficient industries on the planet. This is what has long frustrated me by GOP defense of it (with a little trivial tinkering, like tort reform). Since when are Republicans supposed to celebrate grotesque inefficiency, poor outcomes, and fathomless waste?
(Chart from Jonathan Cohn)
The Dish 