It is fairly easy to see that healthcare as an industry and from a consumer's perspective is a complicated game. It started with simple intentions, but over time health insurance added and added layers of "what-if's", "except for that", and "including this" to its web. Consumers, providers, and the health insurance companies were intended to benefit and they have and they have not. Meaning there are things that have worked well and others that we should be eliminated.

The understanding of risk and the spreading of that risk amongst a large group of people is key to understanding health insurance. This is obviously not that difficult of a concept to grasp, but the problem is that over time consumers have demanded more and more healthcare services and goods be included in the risk factors and health insurance companies have also wanted to sell more and more healthcare services and goods as risk elements. This is not necessarily a good strategy for consumers.

In the beginning and in the end healthcare and health insurance will never ever be free. There is a cost, yet the perception and understanding by consumers over time has changed to really believing that since they have health insurance, everything should be covered and there are no limits to the coverage. The American consumer has come to believe that healthcare and health insurance should include a limitless supply of goods and services. Obviously, not everyone, but more and more this seems to be the mainstream understanding of healthcare.

Our health insurance companies have sold us this vision and consumers have demanded it. This must change through consumer oriented approaches to healthcare. It is important for consumers to be educated and understand their health insurance options, the costs thereof, and the limits thereof as well.

In any case, the health insurance companies today offer many, many options and plan designs and it is up to consumers to decipher the pro's and con's of their health insurance needs.