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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito who wrote (51393)	3/3/2008 7:58:15 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 543149

Healthcare costs, including those for insurance, have risen far faster than the inflation rate. Health care costs started their escalation with the advent of employer-paid "insurance," which increased demand. You could call that "the market" given that it's not "the government," but the key factor is that it took away the normal market incentive of having to make a cost decision when one makes a purchase. One is awarded an all-you-can-eat buffet. In that respect, the economic incentive for the purchaser is much the same as if "the government" were providing "free" health care.

To: Cogito who wrote (51393)	3/3/2008 12:01:41 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543149

The market has pretty much been in complete control of the healthcare system in this country all along No it hasn't, not even close. The government has been heavily involved for quite some time. Healthcare costs, including those for insurance, have risen far faster than the inflation rate. Which makes sense. 1 - We want and get more from health care than we used to get, and this costs money. 2 - Productivity increases faster in manufacturing, and certain other areas, than it does, or probably can, in one on one service industries like a doctor providing service to a patient. This tends to drive up costs. en.wikipedia.org 3 - Consumers of health care have a large degree of insulation from the costs. This is the one real area that I can think of where market forces could produce a lowering of costs, or at least contain growth. Look at areas where people are more likely to be exposed to the costs (for example laser eye surgery) and you will see good containment of costs. But then its not always simple, and its generally not popular, to make moves that tend to expose people to the costs of medical care to a greater extent. There is also the distinction between "handle medical costs" and "reducing medical costs". The market doesn't always reduce costs in other areas either, but it does handle them.