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>So, a free market is ineffective at allocating resources in healthcare. It doesn't suspend reality, that's for sure. If you don't have the resources to pay fo

>So, a free market is ineffective at allocating resources in healthcare. It doesn't suspend reality, that's for sure. If you don't have the resources to pay for your own healthcare, and don't have the resources to pay someone else to pay for your healthcare, then you are going to have to get someone else to volunteer their resources for it, or you're going to go without. >Unless we redefine healthcare to mean "care for people who are not sick," which does not really make it healthcare at all, does it? Plenty of sick people, or people who become sick, are perfectly capable of having their healthcare needs met through the market. There are many, many people who have enough money to buy health insurance, even if they have some chronic conditions and therefore would need to pay someone a lot more than a healthy person would to cover their health care expenses. If your standard for effectiveness in allocation of resources in healthcare is that no one's ability to get health insurance is affected by their current health status, then yes, the market is going to be ineffective by your measure. If your standard includes, for example, having financial incentives for people to limit their own use of health care services, like how we have financial incentives for people to limit their use of basically every other resource out there (e.g. houses, cars, land, anything else that costs money), to ensure that resources are left available for other people to use, and you don't want to deal with heavy-handed government approaches to that problem, then by that standard, a health insurance market is very effective.

rland 8y ago
By that measure, then, the extent to which sick people are covered simply comes down to how much "charity" healthy people are willing to volunteer. Sticker price for my child's medication is $1000 for 4 weeks' supply. I require it to keep him from dying. How much are you willing to forfeit for my cause, charitable neighbor?
- sDlEzAtyoNAz 8y ago
  >By that measure, then, the extent to which sick people are covered simply comes down to how much "charity" healthy people are willing to volunteer. That is reality. If you can't afford something yourself, then you're going to have to have other people pay for it for you, or else you won't get it.

rland 8y ago

By that measure, then, the extent to which sick people are covered simply comes down to how much "charity" healthy people are willing to volunteer. Sticker price for my child's medication is $1000 for 4 weeks' supply. I require it to keep him from dying. How much are you willing to forfeit for my cause, charitable neighbor?

sDlEzAtyoNAz 8y ago
>By that measure, then, the extent to which sick people are covered simply comes down to how much "charity" healthy people are willing to volunteer. That is reality. If you can't afford something yourself, then you're going to have to have other people pay for it for you, or else you won't get it.