Homo Novis meets Illness Insurance
 By Bernd Nurnberger

"Homo Novis" means literally "new human", a man from the future. His natural curiosity in the affairs of Earthlings and his independence and neutrality move him across the spectrum of being seen as obnoxious all the way up to giving unexpectedly sane and useful advice.
As usual, the value is in the eye of the beholder.

In the doctor's waiting room
Homo Novis: "Hi, my name is George. I have just moved here."
 Earthling: "Hi, nice to see you and welcome. I'm Jerry. Wow! With a body like that, why'd you come here - lifted too heavy?"
Homo Novis: "No worry, I'm healthy. I come for a regular check-up, but this is the first time I see this doctor. Are you here for check-up, too?"
 Earthling: "No, not really. I see the doctor every week for my hay fever, y'know."
HN: "E-v-e-r-y week? Hmm... How long has that been going on?"
 E: "On and off for years, actually. It gets really bad in spring."
HN: "I see. Did you ever get diagnosed?"
 E: "Huh? Of course I got diagnosed. Almost every visit the doc looks into my eyes, checks mouth, nose and ears and writes some difficult words on my record. Latin, I think. Oh, I almost forgot, he measures blood pressure and has me half undress, knocks my belly and listens to my heart and lungs. So you see, I do get diagnosed."
HN: "I see your body gets examined, but what is the diagnosis?"
 E: "Latin, of course. Actually, I was in Japan once, and the doctor there wrote in German on my card."
HN: "German - I did not know that. But then, what illness did the doctor find?"
 E: "I said it already, hay fever."
HN: "That's all? For years - on and off?"
 E: "Don't laugh, man. It is terrible. I am so glad the doc prescribes this antihissing medicine. I can at least breathe and go to work."
HN: "Antihistamine... glad it helps you. But was the cause of your hay fever ever found? Your doc must be a poor man if he treats you for years and never finds the cause."
 E: "Poor man - hah! He has the largest house around here and two big cars from Europe. And his wife has a new compact car from Asia every year."
HN: "Oh, so you are one of the few who see him every week?"
 E: "No, no. Usually I meet many old buddies here. The oldsters see the doctor more often than the youngsters."
HN: "Please explain - how can a doctor be rich when his clients are poor? They cannot work while they are ill and see the doc, hm?"
 E: "I don't see your point, man. The health insurance pays the doc, I don't pay him.... it's free."
HN: "Oh, doctors are still free here? I thought this had changed long ago - at the time when the bills for medical treatment had outgrown the insurance preminums and the general people's income. The government had simply declared all illness insurance illegal."
 E: "What do you mean, illness insurance?"
HN: "Yeah, that was a great discovery... Actually, a government-funded and independent study (one of the few really independent medical study in many years). They had found that the medical insurance system had simply the wrong focus. They paid for diagnosis and treatment only, but they claimed the name 'health' insurance..."
 E: "Yes, of course. We have health insurance, accident insurance, burglary insurance. What is wrong with that?"
HN: "Actually, it was established and stated publicly, that medical insurance did NOT pay for health and NOT for preventive medicine and NOT for nutritional guidance. Everyone knew that, but when it appeared in the government bulletins and in the press, it roused a wave of protest."
 E: "I don't get it ..."
HN: "The implications were clear and the government withdrew the license for many medical insurance companies because they claimed to be 'health' insurance but actually only were 'illness' insurance."
 E: "Naturally. You can claim the benefits only after you are ill, and it is big business and no money is put into research of illness prevention. But the crash of the insurance companies - that must have been terrible. No coverage for medical bills!" [Hatchoo! Sneeze.] "What did the people do? Who paid the doctors?"
HN: "How come you missed that here? The news were full of it. First, of course, people stopped paying into the now correctly labeled illness insurance companies. Some claimed refund for payments not used. They could actually prove they had paid into the insurance much more than all their medical bills together had taken out. Second, people made individual agreements with their doctors. They called it 'Chinese health contract' according to the legend that ancient Chinese had a similar way of paying their doctors."
 E: "Yeah, heard of that. They paid a small sum for every day they were healthy and stopped paying when they were ill."
HN: "You got it. That was the 'Chinese Health Contract'. Once the shock was over, the doctors actually liked it because it guaranteed them a steady income and gave them more time for each patient."
 E: "Ohmygawd..."
 HN: "Of course the whole manoeuver brought these illness insurance companies close to bankruptcy. Yet, many got wise quickly and created a new market. They continued record-keeping for the patients and revised the payment terms. They added great value when they started to offer arbitration services where a doctor and his client could not agree on healthy or ill."
 E: "I see." [Sneeze] "If I were asked now, I'd say 'ill, no pay'." [blows nose] "Then doc sez, 'You take medicine, this, three times one day. You healthy tomorrow.' He's from Bulgravia, y'know. Great unversities there."
HN: "So, with that prescription, would you pay tomorrow?"
 E: "Never thought about paying... Currently, I pay next to nothing. Just a minute! Actually, I do pay for the treatment via the health insurance. Oh, damnit, that is hundreds of bucks every month, thousands in a year. I'd rather have ..."
HN: "Would you say you are 'healthy' and pay or you say 'sick' and don't?"
 E: "If you ask me so directly, I'd rather decide by myself whether the treatment was good. I'm fair. If he is a really good doctor, I'd pay him for the rest of my life, as long as I'm healthy."
HN: "See, that made the good doctors very rich after the government ruled 'illness insurance' illegal. And the not-so-good doctors gave up their practice because their clients carried their money to another doctor. Many of these mediocre docs ended up working for a fair salary in the arbitration boards of the new insurances. It became a customer-oriented system. Customers voted with their money."
 E: "Sounds like 'I have a dream'. Do you think such a rich doc would have time for me and my hay fever?"
HN: "Of course. They have quite empty waiting rooms. Their clients are mostly healthy. The rich docs use their clinics for lectures on nutrition, hygiene, prevention and natural healing, and for emergencies of course."
 E: "Ah see.. interesting."
Loudspeaker voice: "Next, please."
 Earthling: "Oh, I changed my mind. I don't go in just now. You go in, for your examination. I quit for now. Go to the library, check what causes hay fever. Then I'll know what to ask the doc next time. Here is my card, call me and tell me more about where you come from, and the insurance and the doctors . See ya."Exit door: slam!
Homo Novis leaves seat: "[sigh] They still pay only for illness here ... "