Truly Affordable Healthcare

ak666

I've been seeing a lot of discussions on here about healthcare problems in the United States. The question is often what the government should do about it.

Truly Affordable Healthcare

Surgery Center of Oklahoma

I believe it's mostly less government, not more, that will start making healthcare affordable to all Americans. As a case in point, I want to show off the Surgery Center of Oklahoma.

They are extremely unique in that they list the full price of every procedure they provide online: true transparent pricing of a kind we'd rarely ever find in any other hospital. Most of all, the prices are often a small fraction of what ordinary hospitals charge.

To avoid regulation and bureaucratic control, they refuse to accept insurance from big companies and especially from government (Medicaid and Medicare in particular). However, they perform pro bono work and provide their services free of charge for patients who desperately need it.

The hospital was founded by an unapologetic capitalist who believes in the power of the free market to provide higher quality at lower prices. While there's a partisan nature about the message of the founders who also founded the Free Market Medical Association, I think everyone regardless of their political views can at least applaud their results in providing the most affordable, high-quality healthcare.

Market Forces

This is what the free market tends to do when there's a genuine competitive incentive. It provides high quality goods and services at the lowest possible price. I believe this is what is lacking in America when hospitals are charging $360 for a drug that costs $0.75 or $100,000 for a pacemaker that costs $9,000.

Market forces drive costs down and quality up. These market forces are also something significantly lacking in Canada according to this paper: Why Competition Is Essential in the Delivery of Publicly Funded Health Care Services.

Canada’s single-payer system yields considerably more administrative efficiencies than any multifunder arrangement. Most importantly, the single public funder ensures that no one will be denied care due to an inability to pay. However, the Canadian health care system precludes competition among sellers of health care services. The resulting monopoly occurs at two levels: health care professionals and hospitals.

In a system as complex and multifaceted as health care, a top-down command and control strategy will almost certainly lead to compounding existing inefficiencies. Effective reform can only be achieved by putting in place a set of incentives that encourage individuals and institutions, acting in their own self-interest, to make the changes that are required. In essence, the introduction of what are usually called “market forces” is the only effective way to make the health care delivery system more efficient and its providers more productive

The paper is basically proposing the incentives found in capitalism to try to make Canada's healthcare fiscally sustainable.

Conclusion

In any case, this is a fairly short take from me. I just wanted to share what the Surgery Center of Oklahoma and the Free Market Medical Association has achieved.

No matter what type of healthcare system, typically the most reliable way to find the highest-quality yet cheapest products and services has historically been through the market forces cited in the above paper proposing reforms to Canada's healthcare system.

That holds even for the electronic devices we're using to access this site.

Truly Affordable Healthcare
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