How hospitals could kill the health insurance industry Some of the world's most powerful retailers have been brought to their knees in recent years thanks to the "Amazon effect." The internet juggernaut has simply been able to provide almost all the goods consumers can buy more conveniently and has effectively taken over the retail industry. It appears people like Amazon (AMZN) founder and CEO Jeff Bezos saw this opportunity all along, and precious few retail investors saw it coming. But is there is a similar disruptive event on the horizon here in the U.S. when it comes to something just about all of us have to buy? When it comes to the controversial and increasingly all-consuming market for health insurance, the answer appears to be "yes." And playing the role of Amazon in this scenario is none other than the ever-expanding and powerful U.S. hospital industry. On its face, health insurance as it's used today in this country is built on a strange business model. Insurance plans are generally used as a hedge against major or unpredictable losses. And long ago, the bulk of the health insurance business was based on that model, with plans sold as a hedge against unexpected and major medical costs like emergency surgeries. But the general rise in all health care costs and the fact that comprehensive health insurance coverage is now mandated by Obamacare have conspired to make health insurance a very different kind of product. Now, the primary purpose of health insurance is to serve as a middleman to defray the costs of certain or near-certain events like regular medical checkups and common medical procedures. © Provided by CNBC But just because so many of us are convinced we need health insurance sold by an insurance company, and just because that's the way the politicians think of things, what's to stop another industry from offering the same protections more conveniently or maybe even at lower prices?.. http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/heal...alth-insurance-industry/ar-AApjmMO?li=BBnb7Kz