Medicare influence on private insurance: good or ill?

Medicare has profoundly affected private insurance market opportunities, the technology and infrastructure used by private insurance, the culture and expectations of providers with whom private insurers must deal, and the culture and expectations of the employers and individuals who purchase private insurance. Private insurance practice today is rapidly moving away from the fee-for-service indemnity model. Medicare is in danger of being left behind, and the direction of influence between Medicare and private insurance is being shifted. To better understand Medicare's past influence and potential future, each of the following areas is examined: 1. private insurance market opportunities, 2. insurance technology and infrastructure, 3. provider culture and expectations of insurance, and 4. insurance buyer culture and expectations of insurance. Medicare's past and future influence in the framework of shifting paradigms is explored.