You can not have a free market for health care because the demand for it is inelastic

[DemocratSinceBirth]

It's not like shopping for a home, tv, car, et cetera...In other words your demand for it is highly resistant to cost. Nobody wants a quadruple bypass that costs two hundred thousand dollars or so but if they have a blockage they don't have much choice in the matter and they can't start shopping around for the cheapest cardiac surgeon. If your kid is sick you will spend your last dime to try to make him or her well.

I don't care what you call the plan or how we get there , but in a society as rich as ours no person should be denied necessary medical care because of an inability to pay.

[safeinOhio]

1. There will be no free market until

you break up big Pharma, Insurance and ban lobbyist. Our free market is not based on supply and demand, it is based on, what the market will bear.

[dumbcat]

3. Think about it!

"Our free market is not based on supply and demand, it is based on, what the market will bear."

[colsohlibgal]

2. Heartless Republicans

But I isn't just them. Again health care used to be relatively cheap because insurance companies only needed to charge for staffing and other overhead. Back then nobody was skimming multi millions off at the top. It is perverse and it is uniquely American.

For profit health care is evil and sick. It is killing and/or bankrupting lots of people.

If democrats get total control again we'll see what they do with it.

[unblock]

4. in theory, inelastic demand in and of itself doesn't meant a free market can't work.

demand won't change much relative to price changes, but high prices should in theory bring in competition to lower prices.

demand for gasoline is fairly inelastic (ya gotta drive to work) but that market is reasonably functional.


there are several problems with the healthcare market, though. it's one things when you're talking even an extra dollar or two a gallon, and at least you may be able to consider carpooling, eventually a more efficient car, or even getting a job closer to home; it's another when you're talking extra thousands of dollars for something that you need to save your kid's life.

moreover, competition doesn't work well because it takes years and years for medical training or for the research to develop a competing medication or medical technology. furthermore, we as a society *don't really want* too much competition because we want to maintain high standards of care. we don't want to get twice as many doctors by giving licenses to the people who are currently failing out. not to mention, the market isn't really a "free" market, e.g., with inability to effectively shop around, marketing to doctors, and so much patent protection and abuse of patent protection (slightly adjusting meds to get a fresh patent, or paying generic competitors not to compete).


you can't ignore the ethical aspect. in the market is for luxury yachts if prices go up and more people are priced out, it's no great loss. in the market for healthcare, if prices go up and more people are priced out, people die.

this is where the inelasticity comes in. it's one thing when rich people will pay any price for a priceless work of art. it's another thing when the rest of use have to give up a life's savings to try to keep a loved one alive for a few more months.