53. If one focuses on systems such as financial services and telecommunications, where
emerging technologies have the greatest impact, one sees increasing user-friendliness.
However, in other systems—public and private alike—inefficiencies, roadblocks, and
other "unfriendly" features still abound. One such example is the U.S. health-care
delivery system.
      To a large extent, the user-unfriendly nature of health-care delivery stems from its
close tie to the insurance industry. Service providers and suppliers inflate prices,
knowing that insurance companies can well afford to pay by passing on inflated costs to
the insured. Hospital patients are often discharged prematurely merely because
insurance fails to cover in-patient care beyond a certain amount or duration. In the
extreme, patients are sometimes falsely informed that they are well or cured, just so that
the facility can make room for insured patients. Insurance providers reject claims and
coverage intentionally and in bad faith when the insured has suffered or is statistically
likely to suffer from a terminal or other long-term and costly—illness. Insurance
companies also impose extreme coverage exceptions for pre-existing conditions. Both
tactics are designed, of course, to maximize insurance company profits at the expense of
the system's user. Finally, new medical technologies that provide more effective
diagnosis and treatment are often accessible only to the select few who can afford the
most comprehensive insurance coverage.
      The consequences of these user-unfriendly features can be grave indeed for the
individual, since this system relates directly to a person's physical well-being and very
life. For example, when a claim or coverage is wrongfully denied, lacking financial
resources to enforce their rights, an individual customer has little practical recourse. The
end result is to render health care inaccessible to the very individuals who need it most.
These user-unfriendly features can be deleterious on a societal scale as well. An
unhealthy populace is an unproductive one. Also, increased health-care costs place an
undue burden on bread-winning adults who feel the squeeze of caring for aging parents
and for children. Finally, these features foster a pervasive distrust of government, big
business, and bureaucracy.
      In sum, today's "point-and-click" paradigm inaccurately portrays the actual
functionality of many systems, including our health-care delivery system, which is well-
entrenched in self-interest and insensitivity to the needs of its users.