Hello. Dr. Keith Smith with you – Surgery Center of Oklahoma. Thank you for joining me.

Imagine for a moment that you’re interviewing companies to clean your home or your business. One company gives you a very honest quote. Another company gives you a very low quote but, after all, they have in mind various undetectable ways of ripping you off constantly.

Imagine you’re an employer with your own health plan. You’re interviewing companies to administer this health plan. One gives you an honest quote. Several others give you very, very low quotes. But, after all, they have in mind all kinds of various and undetectable ways of ripping you off. They ultimately will make more money from you than the person sitting across from you giving you an honest quote.

This is how healthcare works many times in the United States. I refer to these people as trolls. They’re thieves. The honest person many times does not get the nod and they do not get the business because their prices are not subsidized by their theft.

We’re going to talk some more about subsidies in health care and how they distort prices. I was witness recently to a meeting, just like I’ve described, where someone sitting next to me gave an honest quote and as luck would have it, this employer knew the difference and knew they had been ripped off in the past and they accepted his bid.

Thank you for us. We’ll see you next time.