The Healthcare Marketplace
Many people believe that healthcare and medicines have become too expensive, especially for the working poor – those not poor enough to qualify for government programs but whose jobs don’t provide insurance and whose wages are too low to purchase insurance privately. I’ve frequently thought of writing an essay explaining my understanding of the current problems in American healthcare delivery and suggesting a free-market solution that I believe would make care more affordable. I then realized it would have to be a series of essays since there are several distinct issues that need to be explained: the role of insurance, the role of tax incentives, the role of Medicare… I thought for sure a libertarian policy institute like Cato would already have such essays, but everything I found there was way too detailed. Each publication was about a specific law or policy, nothing that stood back and explained how the whole market should work.

I’ll write them eventually, and before your eyes glaze over, I’ll try to make them interesting.

Meanwhile, Psychotoddler mentioned exactly this problem in a recent post about a patient of his who was being squeezed out of access to care. This started an interesting thread on this issue with vehement but polite disagreement. You may find it interesting. (Obviously, since the issue is contentious, if you comment, use perfect manners.) - served up by Doctor Bean @ 6:59 AM