So then, you ask, having read the "Campaign Log: Blossom Tree Lane" post, just how is it the free market is being constrained in our health-care system?
After all, I observed we as a nation have looked at our health-care system, concluded it is broken -- which, surely, it is -- and said, "This free-enterprise system isn't working, better that we turn it over to the government," when the fact of the matter is the current medical system is broken because so many constraints have been placed on the free-enterprise system that it has ceased to be, to some extent, a free-enterprise system.
So, I shall count the ways, or some of them.
1. Often, when it comes time to select insurance and an health-care provider, we have a choice of one, as only one is made available by our employer. Since when does a choice of one have anything to do with the free-market system?
2. Doctors' independence is limited. There was a day when a man could hang out his sign without having to be affiliated with health-care providers or insurance companies. Nowadays, many work for the HMOs and none are not associated with insurance companies. When you seek out a doctor, you select from just those who offer your insurance.
3. Medical school takes so long and costs so much it winnows down the number of people who become doctors. The law of supply and demand tells us if there were more doctors, prices might drop.
4. Licensing and regulation create a maze most of us wouldn't know where to begin to step through, so we don't even try. Why, though, shouldn't it be easier for a person to start a pharmaceutical company? The number of people who try is obviously greatly reduced by the maze of regulations.
5. Patents might be too protective. One company cannot produce the same product without making significant changes or until the patent expires. These laws have value, but we do need to consider if they are overly restrictive, and how much prices might drop if we loosened our patent laws.
There be five. There may be more. Can you think of any others?
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