Here To Help Us

According to The Wall Street Journal, health care costs for employers are rising twice as fast as wages/inflation. The average family premium is more than $11,000. I don't know abut you, but I can remember working for a lot less pay than that. People wonder why health care costs go up, and I've got a theory.  Unlike most goods and services we buy, health care suppliers are not even close to operating in a free market. You reckon that could have anything to do with it? The very supply of physicians is greatly influenced by the guvmint providing the money to create interns or resident physicians. Even worse, in most places you cannot build a hospital — or even a major new piece of equipment for a current hospital — without first getting the guvmint to agree that the facility or equipment is "needed." Now how the hell can you do business like that? Can you imagine Walmart, Holiday Inn, Office Depot, or McDonald's having to ask the guvmint if the community "needs" a new store/hotel? No. We leave such decisions to business people on a "win-lose-or-draw" basis, and we have come out very well with that system.  Hospitals do not have the right to turn away people who can't pay. We would never force a grocery store to provide free goods and services to poor folks, but we require it of health care providers. Of course the airline business was greatly controlled until 28 years ago, particularly in the areas of supply and demand. What scares me is how many people want to go back to that system. Damned if I understand it. We'd love to publish your comments. Please click the comment box at the top.