4 ms·

> free markets don't work for healthcare Healthcare can be broken up into a lot of smaller markets, and for a lot of those the free market works just fine. Th

> free markets don't work for healthcare Healthcare can be broken up into a lot of smaller markets, and for a lot of those the free market works just fine. The market for coffee in the cafeteria of the hospital works fine as a free market. Do you know what percentage of healthcare cost pertain to the cost of the actual treatment itself? (hint: it's a very small part)

danssig 16y ago
Could you please cite somewhere in the world where the free market is working for health care? Every other first world country either has socialized medicine or a tightly regulated health industry.
- Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
  Singapore - arguably the most efficient healthcare system in the world. Tim Harford talks about it in his excellent book "The Undercover Economist" (worth commenting that he's not rampantly free market - he spends time putting the boot into the US system too as well as praising the UK's NHS). Basically everyone has to maintain a fund (the government pay into it for the poorest) for healthcare. This is what they spend when they have healthcare needs. Because the people are making the purchasing decisions themselves (as opposed to the insurance company doing it) they have a far stronger incentive to demand value and to be informed, and you get genuine competition between providers (as if you don't like them this time you'll go elsewhere next time with no insurance company mandating who you can see). The government then picks up the few areas that aren't well catered for by this system. I think it costs about 40% of what the US system costs (possibly even less) and Singapore has a typical life expectancy of 80.
  - jasonwocky 16y ago
    Basically everyone has to maintain a fund... And with that, you're no longer in a free market.
    - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
      If you want a definition that tight then I'm not sure that you'll find a first world country with a free market for healthcare, working or not.
  - muhfuhkuh 16y ago
    "Singapore" ... has a price- and service-controlled market, set not by the healthcare industry but by the Singaporean government (you know, the guys that cane graffiti artists and banned gum-chewing?) They also provide government subsidies to citizens as well as permanent residents (though not as much) for their compulsory Medisave program. So, their invisible hand is very visible and it's called "their government regulates or pays for alot of their care".
damoncali 16y ago
Good point. I over-simplified. There are many causes to the current state of the healthcare market, only one of which is the problem I described.

danssig 16y ago

Could you please cite somewhere in the world where the free market is working for health care? Every other first world country either has socialized medicine or a tightly regulated health industry.

Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
Singapore - arguably the most efficient healthcare system in the world. Tim Harford talks about it in his excellent book "The Undercover Economist" (worth commenting that he's not rampantly free market - he spends time putting the boot into the US system too as well as praising the UK's NHS). Basically everyone has to maintain a fund (the government pay into it for the poorest) for healthcare. This is what they spend when they have healthcare needs. Because the people are making the purchasing decisions themselves (as opposed to the insurance company doing it) they have a far stronger incentive to demand value and to be informed, and you get genuine competition between providers (as if you don't like them this time you'll go elsewhere next time with no insurance company mandating who you can see). The government then picks up the few areas that aren't well catered for by this system. I think it costs about 40% of what the US system costs (possibly even less) and Singapore has a typical life expectancy of 80.
- jasonwocky 16y ago
  Basically everyone has to maintain a fund... And with that, you're no longer in a free market.
  - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
    If you want a definition that tight then I'm not sure that you'll find a first world country with a free market for healthcare, working or not.
- muhfuhkuh 16y ago
  "Singapore" ... has a price- and service-controlled market, set not by the healthcare industry but by the Singaporean government (you know, the guys that cane graffiti artists and banned gum-chewing?) They also provide government subsidies to citizens as well as permanent residents (though not as much) for their compulsory Medisave program. So, their invisible hand is very visible and it's called "their government regulates or pays for alot of their care".

damoncali 16y ago

Good point. I over-simplified. There are many causes to the current state of the healthcare market, only one of which is the problem I described.