What are you whining about? Do you even know what you're talking about?
Is this actually true, that you actually do not comprehend the valid reasons for cost-sharing?
It looks like you 1) are using insurers as a scapegoat because 2) you don't understand how insurance operates. The main purpose copays and deductibles serve is to reduce the utilization of unnecessary care. They don't have to worry as much about meeting that objective during COVID because the virus itself is helping to reduce the utilization of unnecessary care.
The actual total amount of copays and deductibles customers pay is usually a small fraction of the total insurers have to pay out in a given year, which is gigantic mostly because of hospital stays and coverage of expensive drugs for people who meet their out-of-pocket max every year.
As a clinician from the late 1960's throughout the 1990's, I watched, and actively participated in the transition from provider-billed healthcare, to the complete takeover of the payment scheme by insurance companies. The same psysicians and institutions that pushed to hand off the financials of healthcare because "We're not accounting firms, and 3rd party insurance unloads this burden," are the same bunch that rail against healthcare being turned into a patient volume and profit directed patient processing structure.
Doing approvals, coding, and department billing changes over the years has been an eye opener. Watching old-school providers who went into medicine for the right reasons drop out (retire), to be replaced by providers who chose medicine for profit and prestige is a sad reality, and why the stranglehold for-profit insurance has been slowly and methodically destroying our system. Working closely with MD's and administrators, many would candidly voice their views, opinions, and expectations - over the years too many discussions went from helping and caring for the patient, to how to get things done in spite of insurance company rules and regulations.
Up until the early '80's while doing budgets and balance sheets, there was a section for 'other; write-offs; Dr.s, clinics, and hospitals could wave fees and credit bills for those uninsured, too poor, or incapable of generating income, but insurance companies did away with all that. The 'Emergency Room' dodge doesn't work either; Most medical issues people face, regardless of income or insurance, are NOT emergencies, and there is little or no positive outcome for most with chronic conditions. Only singe payer Universal Healthcare for everyone will fix this mess.
When I left the medical field, it was much for the same reasons; when I personally had to turn away patients needing the now extortionately expensive tests and procedures because of shoddy or no insurance, and sail other patients with excellent coverage through the same tests they didn't really need but were approved, it became personal. The department I worked in was one of the only departments that actually made hospitals and clinics money, and when insurance companies started making the rules, our levels of patient care decreased substantially while costs skyrocketed - all in the name of profit.
I've held the hand of dying indigents waiting on gurneys to be seen in the ER that never happened, and watched parents plead and cry arguing with billing departments trying to get basic care for their sick child or loved one.
Anecdotally, back in the 1950's, my 9 day old brother almost died of starvation from congenital esophageal stenosis. Money kept my parents (we were what would now be classified as the Working Poor) from going to our family doctor until he passed out and wouldn't wake up. My mom rushed him to our Dr. office, he diagnosed the problem on the spot, and drove my brother to the hospital where he performed the abdominal surgery himself that day. 'Kiddo' pulled trough, and I remember the belt tightening the family went through tying to pay off the bills. About 6 months in when paying the Dr. - dad went to the office, and paid in cash, in person - Dr. P. told him that since he was doing everything he could to get paid up, he was washing the rest of the bill, and also absolving the hospital bill. If that happened today, I would be an only child.
