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> Because you do not have to go to those places. Restaurants, yes. But supermarkets and car mechanics? Everyone has to eat, and everyone who has a car has to g

by pdonis 2y ago

> Because you do not have to go to those places. Restaurants, yes. But supermarkets and car mechanics? Everyone has to eat, and everyone who has a car has to get it fixed sometimes. In fact, people need to eat much more often than they need health care--yet supermarkets are somehow able to provide a wide selection of food at reasonable prices. The same could be done for health care if it were a competitive free market instead of being regulated so heavily.

II2II 2y ago
> Everyone has to eat, and everyone who has a car has to get it fixed sometimes. I realize this isn't what you meant, but some people have gardens to supplement their food supply and some people repair their own car. I'm not a car owner, but I do repair my own bike and the reason for it is that the required parts and tools are usually much less expensive than a one-time repair (with the biggest expense, tools, being spread across multiple repairs). As for the regulation of health care, it exists for a reason. Some of those reasons are for the public good. You only need to look at alternative medicine to understand that there are a lot of snake oils salesmen out there. Letting people portray themselves as legitimate doctors would only muddy the water. Then there are factors such as competence. It is difficult enough to deal with in a regulated system, never mind an unregulated one.
- pdonis 2y ago
  > As for the regulation of health care, it exists for a reason. One can argue that there are valid reasons to regulate health care. But, as I pointed out elsewhere in this discussion, similar reasons exist to regulate food, and we do regulate food for those reasons, but that doesn't prevent us from having free market competition in food suppliers.
- Turing_Machine 2y ago
  > some people have gardens to supplement their food supply and some people repair their own car. Basically no one in the First World grows enough calories in their garden to make a significant difference, and repairing your own car nowadays generally requires buying lots of expen$ive test equipment. The days of the shade tree mechanic are sadly long over.
thijson 2y ago
A similar example that's more closely related to healthcare is laser eye surgery. For years it was largely an elective procedure, insurance wouldn't pay for it. Clinics would open up in strip malls everywhere. The cost of the procedure inflation adjusted has gone down over the decades.

by pdonis 2y ago

II2II 2y ago

> Everyone has to eat, and everyone who has a car has to get it fixed sometimes. I realize this isn't what you meant, but some people have gardens to supplement their food supply and some people repair their own car. I'm not a car owner, but I do repair my own bike and the reason for it is that the required parts and tools are usually much less expensive than a one-time repair (with the biggest expense, tools, being spread across multiple repairs). As for the regulation of health care, it exists for a reason. Some of those reasons are for the public good. You only need to look at alternative medicine to understand that there are a lot of snake oils salesmen out there. Letting people portray themselves as legitimate doctors would only muddy the water. Then there are factors such as competence. It is difficult enough to deal with in a regulated system, never mind an unregulated one.

pdonis 2y ago
> As for the regulation of health care, it exists for a reason. One can argue that there are valid reasons to regulate health care. But, as I pointed out elsewhere in this discussion, similar reasons exist to regulate food, and we do regulate food for those reasons, but that doesn't prevent us from having free market competition in food suppliers.
Turing_Machine 2y ago
> some people have gardens to supplement their food supply and some people repair their own car. Basically no one in the First World grows enough calories in their garden to make a significant difference, and repairing your own car nowadays generally requires buying lots of expen$ive test equipment. The days of the shade tree mechanic are sadly long over.

thijson 2y ago

A similar example that's more closely related to healthcare is laser eye surgery. For years it was largely an elective procedure, insurance wouldn't pay for it. Clinics would open up in strip malls everywhere. The cost of the procedure inflation adjusted has gone down over the decades.