eloel- t1_iui2ksa wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:29 PM

They find other jobs, like everyone does when their job becomes irrelevant. Insurance people's jobs is way down low on the list of things to worry about with regards to public healthcare. The sheer amount of lives saved would vastly outweigh the drawback (?) of a few lost predatory jobs and companies.

T3canolis t1_iui4l01 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:43 PM

There will also still be plenty of jobs in the financial side of healthcare; they’ll just be public sector jobs as opposed to private sector ones. Even if the government pays for everyone’s healthcare, it will still be necessary to have people to coordinate with doctors, hospitals, etc to make sure people get paid correctly and in a timely fashion.

A_Garbage_Truck t1_iui3sz8 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:37 PM

> I feel like this is a crucial question to answer.

its not as relevant as you think, their jobs would simply become obsolete and/or reduced.

the existence of a National Health Service doesnt remove the demand for Health insurance(private hospitals/practices are still very much a thing), it just forces them to adapt to the competition and make their premiums and reinbursements, competitively priced since they no longer get to dangle the " accept or die" keys over the people.

Employers would likely remove it as a benefit(unless the job demands for liability and safety) but then this would force them to also improve wages to match the gap.

thebatmansymbol OP t1_iui4wgl wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:45 PM

I guess you mean there will still be other health services and costs that could insurance could cover. It will just be smaller?

A_Garbage_Truck t1_iui5xhy wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:52 PM

kinda?

it's more the sense that evne when you are providing a free option there tends to be caveats to it that some people wont be interested in(make no mistake "Free healthcare" is not free, in order for this system to function properly thre needs to be regulations put in place in the interest of protecting the Health of the population, and this is where you have a lot of pushback from lobbies un the US).

the common complain with NHS performance is wait times and the perceived notion that the quality of care is gonna be lesser(this is not true), so they might sitll want or need access ot the private sector, this is where having Health insurance is gonna matter and where the demand would remain.

but ultimately the big shake up would be, that with a free altenrative available, Health insurance providers would have a ceiling on how much much they can charge clients and hospitals(since they have a choice now)

this is also to mention that many jobs that were placed in the private sector, would just get transffered over to be managed in the public sector(you still need people to coordinate hospitals in order to assure that payments and the financial side of running them are taken care of.)

berael t1_iui3ccp wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:34 PM

The exact same thing that happened to the oil-lamp-filling companies and their employees when electric lights were invented.

ShiningRayde t1_iui3w16 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:38 PM

Ayn Rand will write a really weird novella about them becoming the secret society running the world?

tobi437u t1_iui49to wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:41 PM

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the impact on health insurance companies and their employees would depend on the specific details of any healthcare reform proposal. However, in general, if healthcare were made free, health insurance companies would likely see a decrease in business, and their employees would likely see a corresponding decrease in job security and income.

Flair_Helper t1_iui4j80 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:42 PM

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TheSillyman t1_iui64l8 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:54 PM

A lot of those ‘administration jobs’ are relatively new, and when speaking about private insurance a lot of them mostly involve interfering with doctor patient relationships. One of the issues with our current health care system in the US is that there’s been an explosion in the number of administration staff, but not much growth in the amount of doctors. https://images.app.goo.gl/Fyi6Vjc7H2Zq8hgq6

In the US we also pay the most of any developed nation for healthcare while generally receiving worse outcomes. Insurance companies spend lots of the money you give them trying to deny you care. Personally, when I needed to start chemotherapy for late stage cancer my insurance company decided to delay it by repeatedly denying the pre authorization I needed. My oncologist spent more time on the phone with insurance staff (who had no formal medical training) trying to explain why I needed to start ASAP than they did with me as a patient.

While most of those administrators might lose their jobs if we switch to a public healthcare system, a public health system also opens up other employment opportunities and non insurance based administrative positions. I also think any job losses are greatly outweighed by the benefits to doctors and patients, who rather than having to spend time/money/energy/resources dealing with insurance companies could devote all of that to better patient outcomes.

jamesgelliott t1_iui4lsz wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:43 PM

If the US ever goes to a universal healthcare model, you better hope like hell it's government financed but not government run. I have worked in healthcare since 1996 with most of my experience in healthcare regulatory compliance. The places least compliant with the regulations are governmental healthcare providers.

The VA is government RUN. The staff are government employees. If you've paid anything at all to the news about the VA, you would know wait times are horrible and the quality of care is low. That's why several years ago restrictions were lifted that allowed Veterans to go outside the VA system in many instances. Sadly, Biden put back into place some restrictions.

Medicaid in my state is government FINANCED. Recipients have the freedom to go to a number of different providers. The program is administered by a private company that contracted with the state.

So to your question, what will happen to the insurance companies if the US goes to a universal healthcare model? The companies will switch what they do. That will quit selling policies but they will still process and administer the programs.

For example, you may believe Blue Cross is a health insurance company. They are but they do far more than just sell and process claims. Blue Cross is the biggest processor of Medicare claims.

A_Garbage_Truck t1_iui78l2 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 3:01 PM

the biggest issue with trying to implement the system in the US is that by itself is not sufficient.

NHs's works in other countires because they also pass legislation that regulates food/consumer products in the interest of protecting public Health.

for instance: some of the products you see in the US sold as "Food" would be deemed outright illegal to sell in these nations just from the sheer amount of sugar in them.

such regulation would in turn significantly lower the incidience of avoidable diseases like morbid obesity, Heart diseases and diabetes. this would in turn "unclog" the NHS

TLDR:implementing a NHS demands legislation that also aims ot improve the overall Health of the population. some companies would rather not have that because it would cut inot their bottom line.

ELI5: What happens to health insurance companies and their employees if healthcare is made free?

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