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Given that 60-70% of healthcare is already provided by the government (depending what state you're in) from programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, ACA subsidies,
by djrogers 10y ago
Given that 60-70% of healthcare is already provided by the government (depending what state you're in) from programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, ACA subsidies, the VA, and federal employee health plans, it'd be hard to imagine a feee market existing.
Layer the regulations at every level of providing healthcare, and it's very hard to imagine any health related transaction happening without government approval.
- Gibbon1 10y agoOne can also consider that of the remainder 55% or so is supplied through employers. I have the minority opinion that there isn't that much difference between 'the government' and 'huge corporation'. Evidence is a claim I read from someone that handled heath insurance for a fortune 500 corp. Large corporations don't actually buy health insurance, they pay insurance companies to handle claims. Key difference. So remove the 65% of healthcare paid for by the government. And then 20% that is mostly corporate self-insurance, and you have 15% left over that is nothing but a poo bucket filled with market failure.
- elmerfud 10y agoAll insurance is regulated to varying degrees. The core idea of insurance doesn't lend itself well to unregulated free market competition. You can apply regulations to control the market and have it accessible to everyone, or you can leave it unregulated and use your tax payer base to pick up "the slack". Short of society becoming callously uncompassionate, this (health care reform debate) seems more like an argument of which accounting column it should fall in too.