The Big Lie
11th September 2009
– No, we do not have a free market in health care. Medicine is socialized between the ages of 0 and 18, and 65+, and for many of the poor. Private insurance is heavily regulated. Do you know that many states force insurance to cover infertility treatment? That means that stupid poor people who breed early are subsidizing the life choices of intelligent richer people who keep putting off having children for the sake of advancing their career or furthering their education. But that’s what the stupid voters demand through their representatives.
– Doctors make a lot of money because licensing limits the labor supply and they can bid up their services. Yes, nurses can do most of what a family doctor does. No, doctors are not geniuses, I helped some current practicing M.D.’s with their chemistry and calculus homework back in the day, and let me tell you that there is one emergency room physician who had a notorious tendency to “space out” randomly who I wouldn’t want to be treated by in a pinch (though she was a very nice person). I recently went in to get some medicine for my bronchitis and I told my M.D. exactly what to prescribe and she diligently complied after a minimal check-over of my health status. $150 that insurance pays up just for signing the prescription!
– Americans demand more and more services and refuse to stop complaining about the increased premiums which those services entail. A large number of patients at my doctor’s office refuse to be seen by the nurse practitioner for basic appointments because they want “the best” care. The reality is that in most of these cases you’re getting very little extra medicine (if any) for multiples more of price. Americans demand more government services and lower taxes, so this sort of behavior is not surprising.