Health Care System Options for the United States

[MurrayBannerman]

In my opinion, any system needs to be accompanied by doctor pay reform, tort reform, and tax reform on employer provided insurance. This assuming that any changes to Medicare, Medicaid and the way health care is managed is also included.

Ideally, state-bound insurance laws would be repealed and a national regulatory system would be installed. This allows for an oligopoly to emerge along with more competition, similarly to car insurance. I would be in favor of moving toward health-status insurance where everyone can receive insurance when they want to, but if they apply when they truly need it, they will be charged more.

This isn't totally thought out in this post, but I decided I wanted to be lazy.

[MurrayBannerman]

In a perfect world, a totally free market system would work. Seeing the doctor would be like buying a loaf of bread. If people could afford health insurance or health care on their own, going to the doctor would already be like buying a loaf of bread. In that sense, total privatization is out of the question.

This argument rests on the premise that we currently have a totally free market system in health care. That clearly isn't the case.

It's more of a series of non-competitive markets.

[MurrayBannerman]

In a perfect world, a totally free market system would work. Seeing the doctor would be like buying a loaf of bread. If people could afford health insurance or health care on their own, going to the doctor would already be like buying a loaf of bread. In that sense, total privatization is out of the question.

This argument rests on the premise that we currently have a totally free market system in health care. That clearly isn't the case.

It's more of a series of non-competitive markets.

was it ever free? If so, how'd that work out?

No, not really. People don't act rationally in the health care market. Mostly because they can't.

[MurrayBannerman]

In a perfect world, a totally free market system would work. Seeing the doctor would be like buying a loaf of bread. If people could afford health insurance or health care on their own, going to the doctor would already be like buying a loaf of bread. In that sense, total privatization is out of the question.

This argument rests on the premise that we currently have a totally free market system in health care. That clearly isn't the case.

It's more of a series of non-competitive markets.

was it ever free? If so, how'd that work out?

No, not really. People don't act rationally in the health care market. Mostly because they can't.

What do you mean by this? Are you saying that it's impossible for a free market to exist in health care?

There's two things he might be getting to-
 1) A derivation of "rational irrationality" where one person makes a decision that's right for him, but actually makes everyone else poorer. i.e a bank trying to protect what is has already earned by refusing to lend its money, but as a result has fewer customers. 
2) People will do whatever they can to survive and that might mean making unnecessary treatments or even risk doing things that might make them sicker or kill them. 

It would be my guess, from what I heard from students who have come from countries that are too poor to have any health care policy at all, that the cost for over the counter stuff is very cheap, but if you get something that requires any technology past WWII, you are basically in the same boat as an American dog or cat that belongs to a family of modest or insufficient means.

Pretty much. The general idea is that buyers normally don't - or in emergencies can't - compare and contrast prices, service, etc...