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Politics : View from the Center and Left
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To: Lane3 who wrote (51648)3/4/2008 7:51:54 PM
From: spiral3  Read Replies (3) of 542169
 
What exactly it about health care that makes it different from every other key service or commodity?

What makes it different is that we do not consume health care like we do other goods and services. By far most people do not volunteer to get sick, to go to the doctor, or to spend any more time in hospitals than they absolutely have to – one could say that excess consumption in this sector is not much of a factor. (Not to say that there isn't excess consumption in what we've got right now but that's another ball of wax). There are just very few people on the planet consuming health care goods and services for the heck of it or because they happen to be easily and readily available.

The underlying assumption about health care in the US, one that is strongly held, is that it is a market commodity. But in health care, consumption is largely involuntary so the notion of a market is problematic. As long as it's viewed as a commodity like any other, health care will be rationed on the basis of the ability to pay as opposed to being targeted to medical need. Every other industrialized country on the planet recognizes this and gives primacy to the latter. In such situations health care ceases to be a commodity and becomes a social service, like education. How scary is that!
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