"Oppie" wrote in message
...
They mentioned the Amish communities that put aside a cash reserve for
health care. When someone needs medical care (at a hospital), they negotiate
a cash price rate. This rate is substantially lower than the normal
insurance rate.

Are you sure they weren't claiming to negotiate a substantially lower rate
than the normal *hospital* rate?

I mean -- insurance companies have plenty of incentive to negotitate very
tight deals (more money for them), and they have a lot more leverage (many
thousands of subscribers) they a few Amish do.

There is something to be said for hospital-run HMOs, though, where there's
only one entity (the hospital) that needs to make a profit or at least break
even rather than the more typical two (the hospital and the insurer).

---Joel