When it comes to products, people want their money’s worth — that includes insurance.

Read how one Redditor’s country rolled back their healthcare reform after major public backlash. It didn’t take all that long for it to happen, but it was quite an accomplishment considering how uncommon it is for laws to change this quickly.

Malicious compliance of the population

I just remembered the “Gesetz zur Modernisierung der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung,” also known as the Health Reform of 2004.

Introduction:

It was about making the system more efficient. Part of this was the introduction of a patient co-payment:

Ten euros per quarter for the practice, 10% co-payment for medicines and medical devices — at least five and a maximum of ten euros.

But the politicians theorized that seniors went to the doctor for “fun.”

The politicians had the idea that we go to the doctor for fun and thus place unnecessary strain on the system.

A popular claim was that seniors constantly make doctor’s appointments so that they can read magazines in the waiting room.

The co-payment for medicines and medical devices was mainly based on the idea that people would get medication prescribed by the doctor for fun and thus place unnecessary strain on the system. (Medical devices would be crutches, wheelchairs, etc.)

And then, there’s the practice fee they introduced.

Let’s start:

Practice fee

Everyone was against it when it was introduced. Doctors, patients, and health insurance companies were not happy either. (the malicious compliance starts in the second or third year after the introduction.)

Slowly, two things happened at the same time:

People said to themselves “If I have to pay, then it should be worth it!”

On the one hand, that meant that if you had already paid for the quarter, you tried to squeeze in as many doctor’s appointments as possible. On the other hand, towards the end of the quarter, hardly anyone went to the doctor who hadn’t already paid.

This didn’t bode well for the doctors’ offices.

So, doctors’ offices were totally overcrowded at the beginning of the quarter and very empty at the end.

I don’t know how many politicians’ speeches I heard, radio and TV discussions, newspaper and magazine articles saying that people should be reasonable.

And by being “reasonable” — they meant:

[They suggested] people should go to the doctor on the last day of the quarter (and of course pay the full fee for the quarter) instead of going the next day and have a full quarter.

Amazingly, the practice fee was already withdrawn at the beginning of 2013.

It is, therefore, amazing that our politicians normally hardly withdraw any law.

What does Reddit think of this reform? Let’s find out with the comments below.

One reader said “unintended consequences” were common across all laws.

Another likened politicians to managers.

A commenter suggested the providers get in on the malicious compliance.

And another came up with a better way for all of this to be handled.

These politicians needed to ground themselves in reality before controlling health care.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.