Milton Friedman - Socialized Medicine

Nobel Laureate Economist Milton Friedman explores the unsettling dynamics set into motion when government imposes itself into the health care system. (1978)

http://www.LibertyPen.com special thanks to timewarp66 for making the source video available

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[cdoftx]

Step 1: Gradually lead the health care market away from a free market system. Passing more and more regulations, increasing health care cost and complexity.

Step 2: Point to health care as a disaster of the free market system and demand that that government take it over to save it.

[fzqlcs]

@LongBow1600 The price of private health insurance has been inflated due to public health insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid. For example, Medicaid pays just 28 cents on each dollar billed. Providers have to make up the difference on private insurance. It isn't private greed, it is politicians screwing up the system.

[Muslim91]

As a Canadian, I'm very satisfied with our health care system. A healthy society is a better one, people are more efficient, well adjusted and effective when they're healthy. Canada's success, and many countries share this, is that when the state purchases medical equipment/drugs, the buying power sets the tone for costs, this massive buying power is how why we can lower prices overall. In the US its coercion to redistribute money to private entities, while providing inferior service.

[squamish4244]

@stebecool Canada also pays 70% of its health care costs through the government, and the United States, 46%.

[squamish4244]

@stebecool The United States has fewer doctors per person than most OECD countries, and the same number as Canada.

[stebecool]

@squamish4244 I don't disagree on the cost and quality of the system. I'm just telling you why it is that way. If government sets the prices, then sure, it'll be whatever % of the GDP they deem it to be in the end. If you have total control of prices and artificially set the price low, you will have a shortage. People will use more healthcare services and there will be fewer people providing it and that's what you find in many of these socialized systems.

[squamish4244]

@stebecool Use whatever argument you want, but the fact remains that American health care is ranked last among First World nations in terms of quality and first by a large margin in terms of expense. The cost has risen at a substantially faster rate as well over the decades. So socialized medicine appears to be working in all those other countries.

[stebecool]

@squamish4244 Exactly. That's not what I said. We don't have a shortage because government doesn't have total control over prices. It just pays whatever the price is because they're spending someone else's money on someone else so financial waste is not a bother. That's how you end up at 16% of GDP. If government ensures that healthcare services will be paid no matter what, there's little incentive for providers to compete on quality and little incentive for patients to get their moneys worth.

[squamish4244]

@stebecool American health care is ranked, in terms of quality, last among First World nations, and 72nd on a list of 191 nations. So your 'shortage of service' argument makes no sense.

[stebecool]

@squamish4244 Government pumping money into the industry is the reason why it's so expensive. I suppose you could have the government funding the industry while fixing the prices to be low so that it does stay near 10% of GDP, but you would end up with a massive shortage of service. Friedman would be disappointed with your lack of economic literacy.

[squamish4244]

American health care: 17% of GDP. Next highest health care costs in the First World: Switzerland, 11.5% of GDP. France 11.2%, Germany 10.7%, Canada 10%, etc.

Friedman is missing something here.

[ditendo]

@knight508 The solution is simple, remove the government out of the Health care system. The government is the real problem of the failure of the USA healthcare by forcing medicare and other trash. Get the government to mind his own business (the justice system) and to respect the constitution. People must stop seeking the government to resolve problems, we instead must remove it from the equation.