MasterJaguar01 -> RE: This woman understands Christianity AND Healthcare! (2/10/2017 2:02:54 PM)
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ORIGINAL: bounty44 the only thing the government should be doing is getting out of the way of the free market working the way it would if people, and it, were left to their own devices. in every area im aware of, maximizing competition and people paying with their own dollars ultimately produces the best product at the least expense. You need to understand that the totally "free" market, collapses on itself. If no one is there to referee, competitors collude, merge, and donate large sums of money to member of Congress in order to create legislation to reduce competition, devalue the provided product, and drive up prices. There are MANY examples of this: Airlines - Post deregulation: Crappy product Much worse service Fees for everything Pharma Many copycat (and inferior) drugs manufactured solely to cash in Prices rising thousands of percentage points Healthcare is a poster child for this. (Particularly, since it doesn't meet all the criteria for a free market in the first place). It is a product that people are forced to buy, to continue living. The payers created fee-for-service. The hospitals love it, because they can charge what they want, with little accountability for overall health outcomes and know the payers will pay it and pass the cost on to consumers. Medical practices like it, because it is a guaranteed source of income (although they can't bury costs like hospitals do). The payers love it, because they have a monopoly with the providers (who they keep happy), and that translates to a monopoly with the providers. The result... Ever increasing premiums before and during Obamacare. Significantly decreasing scope of coverage (before Obamacare). The bottom line: The free market is GREAT and can create great value and drive down prices. But the government needs to do more than "stay out of the way". The government needs to referee to keep the free market healthy. Otherwise competition is minimized (not maximized(
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