The Declaration of Insurance Independence

This excellent blog set contains a lot of techno and healthcare management jargon, but it makes powerful point about how much $$ is going to the care and feeding of the insurance system. Time to toss the claims forms into the Boston Harbor! In spirit, of course : -)
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The Declaration of Insurance Independence  (part 1)
"Dave Chase is the founder and CEO of Avado, a TechCrunch Disrupt NYC finalist. Previously he was a management consultant for Accenture’s healthcare practice and was the founder of Microsoft’s Health business. This is Part I of a two-part post. You can follow him on Twitter @chasedave."

" Protesting Healthcare Taxation With Bureaucratization
The summary of the Declaration of Insurance Independence is as follows:

Healthcare’s perverse incentives and an accompanying stifling bureaucracy driven by encumbering day-to-day healthcare with insurance has caused hyperinflation that is crushing family, employer and government budgets and holding back job growth. This must be stopped. Citizens and healthcare providers are doing exactly that, however counter-productive insurance regulations are impairing the ability to expand upon health plans shown to reduce costs by 40% or more.
We, therefore, declare that:

• the United States are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent of insurance and self-sufficient in accessing day-to-day healthcare;
• that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to insurance bureaucracy;
• and that all insurance connections involving the purchase of day-to-day healthcare, are and ought to be totally dissolved;
• as Free and Independent States they have full Power to explore the range of more effective ways of accessing day-to-day healthcare, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. "
  

part 2: Declaration of Insurance Independence (Part II): Unleash The Health IT Startups
http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/04/declaration-insurance-independence-ii-unleash-health-startups/ 
" More Time Spent with Patients Translates to Better Health Outcomes and Less Time &
Money Wasted
Interestingly, in the transformative models described earlier, doctors consistently tell me that half to two-thirds of their patient interaction time doesn’t need to be face-to-face (the legacy insurance reimbursement model requires face-to-face appointments for the doctor to get paid). They can deliver high quality medicine without being in the same room as them. By spending less time on insurance bureaucracy, they are able to spend 2 to 8 times more time with patients and still make a reasonable living. These longer appointments aren’t simply a luxury. They’ve demonstrated they can save money and improve outcomes. In the legacy model, a typical 7-minute appointment only allows the doctor enough time to address one symptom with limited time to address the underlying issue."

Thanks, Dave Chase, for this inspiring, call-to-arms salvo!!