What did we think would happen?

The Wall Street Journal (see here) has a piece that says "Under pressure to squeeze out costs, some of the U.S.'s biggest health insurers are quietly erecting more hurdles for patients seeking medical care" (see graph below, click to enlarge).  What did we think would happen?

Aaron Carroll over at The Incidental Economist (see here) summarizes this well.

"The problem isn’t that we don’t know what to do. It’s that we don’t like the tradeoffs involved in any choices. We don’t like giving up anything – ever. So we keep casting about for the perfect solution to the problem. You know, the one where no one is ever denied any treatment, where no one is ever told they can’t see a certain doctor, where no one ever waits at all for elective care, where no one makes any less money, and where no government is involved at all. Oh – and it massively reduces spending and fixes the deficit."