I think it depends heavily on what the motivations are for that third party. I live in Ontario, Canada, and OHIP pays for any hospital visits I need— but they're not a for-profit entity, they set the prices based on what's fair in collaboration with providers.
Notably, OHIP does not cover optical, dental, physio, massage, psychotherapy, or prescription drugs, so those are all paid for by conventional insurance, typically tied to your employer, with predictable results— it's all more expensive than it should be, pricing is often vague and hard to predict (especially with dental), and people defer care, making what should be simple problems into more complicated ones.
I think it depends heavily on what the motivations are for that third party. I live in Ontario, Canada, and OHIP pays for any hospital visits I need— but they're not a for-profit entity, they set the prices based on what's fair in collaboration with providers.
Notably, OHIP does not cover optical, dental, physio, massage, psychotherapy, or prescription drugs, so those are all paid for by conventional insurance, typically tied to your employer, with predictable results— it's all more expensive than it should be, pricing is often vague and hard to predict (especially with dental), and people defer care, making what should be simple problems into more complicated ones.