| There is a finite demand for health care in the same sense that there is a finite amount of matter and energy in the universe. Yes its finite, but it doesn't mean its limited in normal human terms. People aren't going to say "gee this surgery is only 10 cents, I don't need it, because I'm healthy but its so cheap, I'll go for it", but people who do need intervention, can use more and more expensive procedures, if they where available. We already have (and often use) many expensive tests, which often only contribute minimally to human health. On the horizon are things like individual gene sequencing and specific treatments based on the individuals genetic traits. As technology and techniques advance, and as more wealth gets created to throw at medical care, more and more individualized and expensive techniques will become available. At least those things might actually be useful unlike many of the "defensive medicine" tests, but they will be new ways to spend a ton of money on medicine. Meanwhile most of the factors that causes doctors to be so expensive will still apply, some of them to a greater extent than they do today. There will always be a need to ration care, or any other scarce good. Single payer systems typically do it with waiting lists, or similar means, in some cases by lotteries. |
