I caught only a minute or two of a show recently and wish I had watched the whole thing. The apparent gist was that some physicians now have practices that charge a flat $50 cash for each visit and their patients pay very nominal annual sums for catastrophic coverage. They are able to do this by eliminating extraordinary health insurance administration expenses and credit risks, while finding more time to focus on their patients. Their quality of life and patient care are improved, while medical costs are significantly reduced.

This seems to make too much sense! Does anyone have additional information or comments on such programs?

30% or so of $ paid to insurance companies stays in the companies. Which doesn't include the amount of money a doctor's practice spends to deal with the companies. So there's a gargantuan (I always liked that word; it's so hard to find a way to use it in a sentense --Q.T.) amount of healthcare dollars evaporating into the insurance companies. The only problem is that the doctors who do as you describe aren't really solving anything in big-picture terms: they make it easier on themselves in many ways, but it then falls on the patient to deal with her/his ins. co. if they have one. Nor does it address the bigger portion of medical expenses, namely hospital costs. It's not, in other words, a solution to the bigger problem of healthcare financing in the US.

If you're wondering why health insurance is so expensive, check out a major insurance company's headquarter building some time. That's where most of the money goes. It's amazing how much "overhead" it takes to build huge buildings and give the administration corporate jets.